Trends in Obesity, Overweight, and Attempted Weight Loss Among United States High School Students

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Figure 1.
Obesity trends among United States high school students from 2013 to 2023, overall and by sex.
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Figure 2.
Overweight trends among United States high school students from 2013 to 2023, overall and by sex.
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Figure 3.
Self-reported attempts to lose weight trends among United States high school students from 2013 to 2023, overall and by sex.

Table 1.

Obesity, Overweight, and Trying to Lose Weight in United States Adolescents by Race/Ethnicity

Variable / Subgroup	2013, n=13,324	2015, n=14,358	2017, n=13,146	2019, n=12,140	2021, n=14,896	2023, n=17,814
Obesity
White	13.1 (11.6-14.9)	12.4 (10.5-14.6)	12.5 (10.9-14.3)	13.1 (11.3-15.2)	13.7 (12.0-15.6)	13.4 (12.4-14.4)
Black	15.7 (13.8-17.8)	16.8 (14.2-19.6)	18.2 (16.3-20.3)	21.1 (17.7-24.8)	21.2 (18.5-24.3)	20.2 (16.9-24.1)
Asian	5.6 (3.5-9.0)	5.5 (3.6-8.4)	7.9 (5.1-12.0)	6.5 (3.8-10.7)	7.7 (5.0-11.7)	11.0 (7.5-15.9)
Hispanic/ Latino	15.2 (13.1-17.5)	16.4 (14.8-18.2)	18.2 (16.9-19.5)	19.2 (16.7-21.9)	20.2 (17.9-22.8)	19.5 (17.9-22.4)
Overweight
White	15.6 (14.1-17.3)	15.2 (14.1-16.5)	14.0 (12.8-15.3)	14.6 (13.1-16.2)	14.6 (13.5-15.7)	13.5 (12.3-14.7)
Black	19.1 (17.2-21.3)	17.2 (15.1-19.5)	17.8 (15.4-20.5)	16.4 (13.5-19.6)	18.6 (17.0-20.5)	17.5 (14.9-20.4)
Asian	13.6 (10.1-18.1)	11.9 (9.1-15.5)	13.4 (10.4-17.3)	11.0 (8.8-13.6)	8.3 (4.9-13.6)	11.1 (8.6-14.4)
Hispanic/ Latino	18.3 (16.8-19.8)	18.4 (17.0-19.9)	19.5 (18.0-21.0)	19.6 (17.4-22.0)	20.9 (19.7-22.1)	16.2 (14.5-18.1)
Trying to lose weight
White	47.1 (44.9-49.3)	44.1 (41.8-46.4)	45.1 (42.9-47.2)	46.6 (43.7-49.6)	42.7 (40.7-44.8)	41.0 (38.6-43.5)
Black	40.9 (38.5-43.3)	39.4 (35.7-43.2)	42.3 (39.4-45.3)	40.1 (34.6-45.9)	45.7 (42.8-48.7)	42.3 (37.9-47.3)
Asian	47.8 (43.8-51.8)	45.3 (40.2-50.5)	48.7 (44.0-53.5)	47.5 (39.3-55.8)	42.2 (30.4-56.3)	41.4 (35.7-47.3)
Hispanic/ Latino	54.5 (51.9-57.0)	53.1 (50.2-55.9)	55.4 (53.4-57.4)	54.9 (52.8-56.9)	53.6 (50.5-56.8)	52.4 (50.0-54.7)

Table 2.

Obesity, Overweight, and Trying to Lose Weight in United States Adolescents by Grade Level

Variable / Subgroup	2013, n=13,324	2015, n=14,358	2017, n=13,146	2019, n=12,140	2021, n=14,896	2023, n=17,814
Obesity
9th grade	13.2 (11.8-14.9)	13.0 (11.7-14.4)	13.1 (11.5-14.9)	14.8 (12.8-17.1)	16.1 (14.4-17.9)	16.3 (14.1-18.7)
10th grade	13.6 (11.8-15.7)	15.2 (13.0-17.6)	14.9 (13.0-17.0)	15.9 (13.3-18.8)	16.6 (14.8-18.5)	14.8 (13.2-16.5)
11th grade	14.5 (12.9-16.4)	14.5 (12.6-16.6)	16.9 (15.3-18.7)	15.7 (13.6-18.1)	15.3 (13.6-17.2)	17.3 (15.4-19.5)
12th grade	13.5 (11.7-15.5)	12.7 (10.7-15.1)	14.2 (12.4-16.2)	15.5 (13.6-17.7)	17.3 (15.5-19.3)	15.3 (13.7-17.0)
Overweight
9th grade	18.2 (16.2-20.5)	16.8 (14.8-19.0)	15.7 (14.3-17.2)	15.7 (13.7-17.8)	17.4 (15.8-19.2)	14.4 (12.8-16.2)
10th grade	16.1 (14.7-17.6)	15.5 (13.8-17.4)	16.2 (14.3-18.3)	16.6 (14.9-18.5)	15.6 (13.9-17.4)	15.8 (14.4-17.2)
11th grade	15.6 (14.1-17.3)	15.9 (14.5-17.4)	16.5 (14.8-18.2)	16.6 (14.4-19.2)	16.8 (15.3-18.4)	15.5 (14.1-17.1)
12th grade	16.2 (14.4-18.1)	16.0 (13.8-18.4)	14.0 (12.0-16.3)	15.5 (13.6-17.7)	14.2 (12.7-15.7)	12.9 (10.9-15.2)
Trying to lose weight
9th grade	48.7 (45.9-51.6)	44.3 (41.7-47.0)	46.2 (44.1-48.4)	47.2 (44.3-50.2)	47.4 (44.4-50.4)	44.9 (41.7-48.1)
10th grade	46.7 (43.6-50.0)	45.7 (43.1-48.4)	46.3 (44.4-48.3)	50.7 (47.7-53.7)	43.1 (39.7-46.6)	42.7 (40.2-45.3)
11th grade	48.6 (46.3-50.9)	45.7 (42.3-49.2)	48.6 (45.9-51.3)	48.2 (45.8-50.6)	46.1 (42.8-49.5)	46.4 (43.3-49.5)
12th grade	47.0 (44.9-49.1)	47.3 (44.6-50.0)	47.8 (45.2-50.5)	47.1 (43.7-50.4)	46.4 (44.3-48.6)	43.9 (41.0-46.9)