The overweight and obesity epidemic is of great concern for all Texans. At present, 63 percent of Texans are overweight or obese, with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or greater.
- Almost 24 percent of Texans are obese, with a BMI of 30 or greater.
- The prevalence of obesity in Texas has more than doubled since 1988.
The results in Tarrant County are even worse.
- Overall, 64% of adults were overweight or obese in 2004.
- Of these, 64%, 38% were overweight and 26 per cent were obese.
Do you live in a Tarrant County Zip Code area that has a high prevalence of being overweight of obese?
Tarrant County Zip Code Map for Overweight
Tarrant County Zip Code Map for Obese
For more detail, read the Tarrant County Public Health Department report "Overweight and Obesity."
Obesity Trends Among U.S. Adults
(BMI >30, or about 30 lbs overweight for 5’4” person)
Source: Centers for Disease Control
Weight Problems in Children
The epidemic doesn’t just affect adults.The Statewide Obesity Task Force estimates that 35 percent of the school-age children in Texas are overweight or obese. A new study in the American Journal of Public Health has found that Texas children are among the fattest in the nation. Texas fourth graders, for example, have an almost 50 percent higher prevalence of overweight than a representative sample of children across the United States.
Weight Problems in Adolescents
In 2003, 25.6 percent of high school students in the United States were overweight or obese. The rate of overweight or obese high school students in Texas is 30.3 percent, the second highest in the nation.
The consequences of adolescent obesity are devastating. The emotional burden of obesity on the quality of life is equivalent or worse than that of adolescents who have cancer. Young people with cancer often are treated with support and compassion, while overweight youngsters may be ridiculed and isolated.
Further, fat does not go away easily. Overweight adolescents have a 70-percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults, and if at least one parent is overweight or obese, the chance increases to 80 percent.
Overweight and Obesity Affects Age or Racial and Ethnic Groups Differently
WOMEN
- Adult women of lower socioeconomic status are approximately 50 percent more likely to be obese than those of higher socioeconomic status across all racial and ethnic groups combined.
- 69 percent of black women are overweight or obese.
- 47 percent of white women are overweight or obese.
MEN
- 62 percent of white men are overweight or obese.
- Overweight and obesity are more prevalent among white men than among black men.
RACE
- Mexican-American men have a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity than whites and blacks.
- Mexican-American boys and black girls are the most affected youth.
AGE
- The prevalence of obesity increases until about age 60, after which it begins to decline.
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