An initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Explore Data by Demographic

Explore childhood obesity related data by age group

High School

According to the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), 15.5% of high school students had obesity and an additional 16.1% were overweight. The information from YRBSS is based on a survey of participating states and uses self-reported information. State obesity rates among high school students ranged from a low of 9.8% in Utah to a high of 23.4% in Mississippi.

Fast Facts

23.4%
of high school students in Mississippi had obesity, the highest rate of any state.
15.5%
Of high school students nationally had obesity.
21.3%
Of Native American high schoolers had obesity, the highest among all racial and ethnic groups.
Key:

About this Data

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System is a biannual survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information, see the Methodology and Data page.

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