By the numbers
States with the highest percentage of youth ages 10-17 who were overweight or obese in 2016:
1. Tennessee 37.7
2. North Dakota 37.1
3. Mississippi 37.0
4. Florida 36.6
5. Rhode Island 36.3
6. Alabama 35.5
7. West Virginia 35.1
8. Louisiana 34.0
9. Indiana 33.9
10. Arkansas 33.9
Utah had the lowest rate, 19.2 percent.
More than a third of Indiana youth ages 10 to 17 – 33.9 percent – are overweight or obese, the ninth-highest rate among states, according to data released Tuesday.
Arkansas also had a 33.9 percent rate. The national overweight and obesity rate among children and teenagers in that age group during 2016 was 31.2 percent, the National Survey of Children's Health showed.
The data follow the recent publication of the annual State of Obesity report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America's Health. That state-by-state data showed adult obesity rates in Indiana at 32.5 percent, the 10th highest.
The new 2016 rates for youth ages 10 to 17 represent the first update to the national data set since 2011-12, a news release said.
Health advocates for years have expressed concern that many youth are inactive, tied down instead to entertaining electronic devices including cellphones and tablets used for social networking and gaming.
“It is difficult to read that a third of our young people are struggling with what used to be a problem of middle age,” Allen County Health Commissioner Dr. Deborah McMahan said in an emailed statement. “Sadly we know that they are likely to develop a number of significant chronic health issues as a result of this issue that will likely complicate their life.
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