Childhood obesity rates rose 3.1% in 2020-21 COVID year

The percentage of Arkansas students classified as obese rose more than 3% during the COVID-impacted 2020-21 school year, a much larger jump than the three preceding years combined.

A new report on childhood obesity by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement found that 26% of the state’s public school students in all grades had a body mass index measurement of 30 or greater in 2020-21, classifying them as obese.

That was the largest percentage since data collection began in 2003, and it represented a 3.1% increase from the previous school year, when the percentage was 22.9%. The percentage had increased from 22% to 22.9% the previous three years.

“Studies in other states have shown similar weight increases among children during the pandemic’s first wave,” said ACHI Director of Analytics Mike Motley in a press release March 16. “This is likely a result of decreases in physical activity and reduced access to healthy school meals as schools switched to virtual learning during times of high COVID-19 transmission.”

The percentage of older children considered obese in 2020-21 was higher than the percentage of younger children, as has been the case in previous years. However, the percentage increased more sharply among younger children. The percentage of kindergarten students rose from just under 16% in 2019-20 to just under 20% in 2020-21. Second graders saw a similar increase from just over 20% to just over 24%. Fourth graders rose from 24% to more than 28%.

Motley said families, educators and policymakers should help children make healthy choices. Overweight or obese children are more likely to be in the same condition when they grow up, leading to health problems.

The press release said 36% of Arkansas adults are obese, ranking the state 47th, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.