[T]hirteen percent of Vermont youths between ages 10 and 17 are obese, putting them at increased risk of chronic disease later in life, a new report says.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report also says Vermont has the 13th-lowest youth obesity rate in the United States.
That – combined with the fact that obesity among Vermont high schoolers has increased by only 3 percentage points in the past decade – could be seen as good news. But state health officials aren’t likely to be applauding such numbers.
“This is still alarming, even though we’re talking about numbers not changing,” said Sue Kamp, director of physical activity, nutrition and women’s health at the Vermont Department of Health. “We would like to see it stabilize and then start going down.”
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s new youth obesity statistics are based on the National Survey of Children’s Health for 2016 and 2017.
The data show that Vermont’s obesity rate for ages 10 to 17 is below the national average of 15.8 percent. The nation’s highest rate in that age group was Mississippi’s 26 percent; the lowest rate was found in Utah, at just 8.7 percent.
Most of the highest obesity rates were in the South. But there also was considerable variance in New England, from 9.8 percent in New Hampshire to 16.8 percent in Rhode Island.
One benefit of the survey data is that it allows for state-by-state comparisons, the report’s authors say. But one limitation is that the survey was redesigned for 2016, so researchers can’t compare past results for 10- to 17-year-olds to the newest data.
Also, the survey relies on parental reports of a child’s height and weight, rather than actual, direct measures. Similarly, the Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey – which put obesity among high schoolers at 13 percent last year – relies on students reporting their height and weight in order to obtain a body mass index.
For that reason, some believe such reports may underreport the rate of youth obesity. A recent RiseVT measurement of more than 1,700 elementary school students in Franklin and Grand Isle counties showed that 41 percent were either overweight or obese.
But, no matter what the actual number, the stakes are high.
Experts say obesity among youths leads to “negative psychological and social consequences” and increases the risk of chronic health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
Kamp also noted that obese youth are “much more likely to be obese in adulthood.”
Obesity rates increase with age: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says more than half of today’s kids in the United States will be obese when they reach age 35 if current trends persist.
Vermont’s adult obesity rate is 27.6 percent, according to a study released earlier this year. Detailed state statistics from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation show that Vermont’s highest obesity rate – 31.6 percent, or nearly one in three – occurs among the 45 to 64 age group.
In an effort to keep such numbers from growing, Vermont officials and health advocates are pursuing a variety of initiatives. A few examples include the statewide expansion of RiseVT’s healthier living programs and the educational 3-4-50 campaign, which links a lack of physical activity, poor diet and tobacco use with four diseases that result in more than 50 percent of deaths in Vermont.
Other examples include promotion of farm-to-school initiatives; programs to encourage breastfeeding; and requirements to limit screen time and increase physical activity in child care programs.
“What we would love to see and are beginning to see in Vermont is a focus on physical activity and nutrition for everyone, every place they go,” Kamp said.
Even if such efforts are working, “we might not see a change for a long, long time,” Kamp said. But she and many others are persisting in such work.
“I think we have to do the best we can and find new ways to do this work as the resources get tighter and tighter,” Kamp said.
