Turning the Curve on Obesity Prevalence Among Fifth Graders in the Los Angeles Unified School District, 2001–2013
ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Volume 14 — February 16, 2017
PEER REVIEWED
Figure 1A. Obesity prevalence among fifth-grade students, Los Angeles Unified School District, California, 2001–2013. From 2001 through 2005, obesity prevalence increased from 27.5% to 31.6%. From 2010 through 2013, prevalence declined from 31.6% to 28.5%.
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 27.5 |
| 2002 | 27.5 |
| 2003 | 29.2 |
| 2004 | 29.8 |
| 2005 | 31.6 |
| 2006 | 30.6 |
| 2007 | 30.5 |
| 2008 | 30.9 |
| 2009 | 30.5 |
| 2010 | 31.6 |
| 2011 | 30.9 |
| 2012 | 29.4 |
| 2013 | 28.5 |
Figure 1B. Obesity prevalence among fifth-grade students, by sex, Los Angeles Unified School District, California, 2001–2013. Throughout the study period, obesity prevalence was higher among males than among females.
| Year | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | |
| 2001 | 31.0 | 23.9 |
| 2002 | 31.4 | 23.6 |
| 2003 | 33.1 | 25.3 |
| 2004 | 33.7 | 25.7 |
| 2005 | 35.6 | 27.3 |
| 2006 | 34.8 | 26.2 |
| 2007 | 34.6 | 26.2 |
| 2008 | 34.8 | 26.7 |
| 2009 | 34.5 | 26.3 |
| 2010 | 35.9 | 27.1 |
| 2011 | 34.9 | 26.7 |
| 2012 | 32.8 | 25.8 |
| 2013 | 32.2 | 24.6 |
Figure 1C. Obesity prevalence among fifth-grade students, by sex and race/ethnicity, Los Angeles Unified School District, California, 2001–2013. Obesity prevalence was higher among males than females for whites and Latinos, but for blacks the prevalence was higher among females than males.
| Year | Race/Ethnicity, % | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | |||||
| White | Latino | Black | White | Latina | Black | |
| 2001 | 19.2 | 35.3 | 19.2 | 12.4 | 26.6 | 23.0 |
| 2002 | 18.8 | 35.5 | 20.7 | 14.8 | 26.0 | 21.6 |
| 2003 | 21.4 | 37.1 | 22.3 | 15.4 | 27.9 | 23.3 |
| 2004 | 20.5 | 37.6 | 23.7 | 14.4 | 28.3 | 23.7 |
| 2005 | 21.2 | 39.6 | 24.8 | 14.0 | 29.9 | 26.8 |
| 2006 | 20.6 | 38.9 | 23.9 | 14.8 | 28.4 | 27.1 |
| 2007 | 21.7 | 38.5 | 24.8 | 12.7 | 28.9 | 26.0 |
| 2008 | 18.8 | 38.6 | 26.0 | 11.3 | 29.3 | 27.1 |
| 2009 | 15.7 | 38.7 | 25.4 | 11.4 | 28.8 | 29.0 |
| 2010 | 16.5 | 39.1 | 26.6 | 10.2 | 29.3 | 28.0 |
| 2011 | 18.1 | 39.2 | 25.0 | 13.5 | 29.8 | 25.1 |
| 2012 | 18.1 | 36.9 | 22.9 | 12.8 | 28.7 | 25.7 |
| 2013 | 17.4 | 36.8 | 21.6 | 11.3 | 27.5 | 24.8 |
Figure 1D. Obesity prevalence among fifth-grade students, by race/ethnicity, Los Angeles Unified School District, California, 2001–2013. Throughout the study period, obesity prevalence was lowest among white students, second lowest among black students, and highest among Latino students.
| Year | Race/Ethnicity, % | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| White | Latino | Black | |
| 2001 | 15.9 | 31.0 | 21.1 |
| 2002 | 16.8 | 30.8 | 21.2 |
| 2003 | 18.5 | 32.6 | 22.8 |
| 2004 | 17.6 | 33.0 | 23.7 |
| 2005 | 17.8 | 34.9 | 25.8 |
| 2006 | 17.8 | 33.8 | 25.5 |
| 2007 | 17.4 | 33.8 | 25.4 |
| 2008 | 15.2 | 34.0 | 26.5 |
| 2009 | 13.6 | 33.8 | 27.0 |
| 2010 | 13.6 | 34.3 | 27.3 |
| 2011 | 15.9 | 34.6 | 25.0 |
| 2012 | 15.6 | 32.9 | 24.3 |
| 2013 | 14.5 | 32.2 | 23.2 |
Figure 2A. Obesity prevalence among fifth-grade students, by socioeconomic status (SES), Los Angeles Unified School District, California, 2001–2013. Throughout the study period, obesity prevalence was lowest among students in the high-SES group and highest among students in the low-SES group.
| Year | Socioeconomic Status, % | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest | Middle | Highest | |
| 2001 | 29.7 | 24.1 | 16.6 |
| 2002 | 29.5 | 24.5 | 16.7 |
| 2003 | 31.4 | 25.5 | 18.6 |
| 2004 | 31.9 | 25.2 | 17.6 |
| 2005 | 34.0 | 26.8 | 18.2 |
| 2006 | 32.9 | 27.8 | 16.8 |
| 2007 | 33.0 | 28.2 | 16.2 |
| 2008 | 33.5 | 28.3 | 16.9 |
| 2009 | 33.4 | 26.4 | 16.1 |
| 2010 | 34.5 | 26.4 | 14.5 |
| 2011 | 34.4 | 26.6 | 16.0 |
| 2012 | 32.6 | 25.0 | 14.2 |
| 2013 | 32.0 | 24.1 | 15.4 |
Figure 2B. Obesity prevalence among white fifth-grade students, by socioeconomic status (SES), Los Angeles Unified School District, California, 2001–2013. Throughout the study period, obesity prevalence was lowest among white students in the high-SES group and highest among white students in the low-SES group. Obesity prevalence in 2008 for white students in the low SES group should be interpreted cautiously because of the limited number of students with body mass index information.
| Year | Socioeconomic Status, % | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest | Middle | Highest | |
| 2001 | 21.0 | 18.3 | 12.7 |
| 2002 | 22.6 | 19.0 | 13.2 |
| 2003 | 24.9 | 20.7 | 14.4 |
| 2004 | 23.2 | 20.3 | 13.9 |
| 2005 | 26.1 | 19.4 | 13.6 |
| 2006 | 25.6 | 22.5 | 13.6 |
| 2007 | 25.4 | 24.2 | 12.4 |
| 2008 | 27.8 | 18.6 | 13.3 |
| 2009 | 24.4 | 18.5 | 11.8 |
| 2010 | 34.0 | 20.1 | 10.6 |
| 2011 | 25.3 | 20.5 | 12.4 |
| 2012 | 30.4 | 17.3 | 11.6 |
| 2013 | 26.3 | 19.4 | 11.0 |
Figure 2C. Obesity prevalence among Latino fifth-grade students, by socioeconomic status (SES), Los Angeles Unified School District, California, 2001–2013. Throughout the study period, obesity prevalence was lowest among Latino students in the high-SES group and highest among Latino students in the low-SES group.
| Year | Socioeconomic Status, % | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest | Middle | Highest | |
| 2001 | 31.6 | 28.4 | 24.2 |
| 2002 | 31.2 | 29.8 | 22.7 |
| 2003 | 33.1 | 29.2 | 28.0 |
| 2004 | 33.6 | 28.9 | 25.7 |
| 2005 | 35.6 | 30.2 | 27.2 |
| 2006 | 34.2 | 32.7 | 25.8 |
| 2007 | 34.4 | 31.6 | 24.7 |
| 2008 | 34.4 | 33.1 | 24.2 |
| 2009 | 34.3 | 31.3 | 24.7 |
| 2010 | 35.1 | 29.4 | 24.1 |
| 2011 | 35.7 | 30.4 | 24.4 |
| 2012 | 33.7 | 29.6 | 21.2 |
| 2013 | 33.2 | 28.0 | 25.1 |
Figure 2D. Obesity prevalence among black fifth-grade students, by socioeconomic status (SES), Los Angeles Unified School District, California, 2001–2013. Throughout most years of the study period, obesity prevalence was lowest among black students in the high-SES group, and highest among black students in the low-SES group. Obesity prevalence from 2008 through 2010 for black students in the high-SES group should be interpreted cautiously because of the limited number of students with body mass index information.
| Year | Socioeconomic Status, % | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest | Middle | Highest | |
| 2001 | 22.1 | 19.8 | 17.3 |
| 2002 | 21.9 | 19.6 | 18.5 |
| 2003 | 23.3 | 23.8 | 18.2 |
| 2004 | 24.4 | 23.6 | 19.0 |
| 2005 | 26.8 | 26.0 | 18.5 |
| 2006 | 27.6 | 22.5 | 15.9 |
| 2007 | 26.5 | 25.4 | 18.4 |
| 2008 | 27.5 | 25.2 | 18.2 |
| 2009 | 28.0 | 25.8 | 19.8 |
| 2010 | 28.7 | 25.2 | 17.0 |
| 2011 | 27.7 | 22.9 | 16.6 |
| 2012 | 26.3 | 22.7 | 17.7 |
| 2013 | 25.9 | 20.2 | 17.3 |
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