Kidsweighin.org, Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health

Excerpts from the Child Trends DataBank

The percentage of children and adolescents nationwide who are overweight has tripled in the past thirty years, with increases continuing through the 1990s. More than 15 percent of children ages 6 to 19 were overweight in 1999-2000.
Overall, boys and girls are about equally likely to be overweight. However, among those ages 12-19 of Mexican background, boys are more likely than girls to be overweight. Among black adolescents of the same age, girls are more likely than boys to be overweight.
Among adolescent boys and girls ages 12-19 in 1999-2000, black non-Hispanics and those from a Mexican background were substantially more likely to be overweight than white non-Hispanic youth. Among children ages 6-11, Mexican boys are significantly more likely to be overweight than both black non-Hispanic and white non-Hispanic boys.

Sources: National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States 2002 with Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans , and Health United States, 2003 with Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans. Accessed from Child Trends DataBank on 12-04-03.