Population Health
Child Obesity - Overall Statistics for Connecticut
Reducing obesity is strongly associated with improved health. Childhood obesity can have many harmful effects on the body and puts children at greater risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, asthma, joint and musculoskeletal issues among others. Children with obesity tend to become obese as adults and their risk for weight-related diseases tends to be more severe.
Childhood obesity is determined by measuring Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is a screening and diagnostic tool for weight and is calculated based on a person’s weight and height. Childhood obesity is defined as a BMI measurement at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and gender. The SIM Data Dashboard used BRFSS data to calculate childhood obesity based on respondent’s report of the child’s height and weight.
Overall
- The goal of CT SIM was to reduce the percentage of childhood obesity to 13.2% by 2020. In the years prior to the CT SIM implementation (2014/2015), the percentage of childhood obesity was 13.5.
- In 2016, the first CT SIM implementation year, the percentage increased to 16.0 (a 2.5% increase) and increased to 18.9% in 2017 (another 2.9% increase).
- In 2018, child obesity decreased by 0.4% to 18.5%.