Trends in Obesity by Sex

The following visualizations illustrate the trends in obesity rates from 1988-2018 in male and female youth of the ages 2-19 years.

As displayed above, there has been an alarming increase in the percentage of youth in the United States that are obese. The steep increase in obesity rates coincides with other societal trends such as an increase in processed foods and the invention and widespread adoption of personal technology devices. What is incredibly alarming about these trends is that kids are supposed to be much less prone to obesity. Furthermore, the rates of male obesity are higher than those of female in the graphs above, and according to the National Institutes of Health, females have twice the risk of being overweight or obese. This means that activity and diet trends for young males have drastically worsened.

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Trends in Obesity Across the United States

The following visualizations illustrate the trends in obesity rates of highschoolers (grades 9-12) from 2001-2019.

As demonstrated by the chloropleth above, the obesity epidemic has spread across the United States through the years, and there has been a worrying increase in obesity rates in numerous states such as Mississippi. This visualization, couple with the trends shown in the previous three graphs, further demonstrate the increasing issue at hand that must be addressed.

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Trends in Obesity by Poverty Level

The following visualizations illustrate the trends in obesity rates from 1988-2018 in male and female youth of the ages 2-19, and adults 20 and above. In the graphs, the percentages below the various bar graphs represent the income level in comparison to the poverty line. "Below 100%" means that those individuals make an income below the poverty line. "100-199%" means that those individuals make an income equal to or up to twice that of the poverty line, etc., etc. The percentages on the y-axis represent the estimated percentage of the population in that income group that is obese.

As seen across the graphs, the percentage of obesity tends to decreas with increasing income groups. This is likely attributable to welathier individuals or families having more leisure time to workout and engage in healthy activities. Additionally, the higher income individuals and families have the resources to sustain healthier, often more expensive diets, and avoid eating unhealthy fast food, which is often quick, cheap, and easy. For lower income individuals fighting against poverty, quick, cheap, and easy, like fast food, will be an attractive option frequently, unfortunately establishing unhealth and damaging habits that increase the risk of obesity.

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