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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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The opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions.
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