Virginia Obesity Survey Results Karen Remley, MD, MBA, FAAP State Health Commissioner May 18, 2010
Methodology The survey was conducted through telephone interviews – –Interviews conducted from Dec. 3, 2009 to March 20, ,501 randomly selected Virginia youth ages 10 to 17 –When an eligible phone number was called, permission was obtained from a parent to speak with a 10- to 17-year-old living in the household
Weight ⅔ of Virginia youth are healthy weight 1 out of 5 Virginia kids are overweight or obese
Demographic Differences
Weight and Perception Most youth believe they are right weight Youth correctly classify own weight 65% of the time
Eating Habits Only 4% met USDA recommendations for daily fruit and vegetable intake
Eating Habits: School Lunch 88% eat lunch every day 59% buy lunch at school –About a quarter (23%) have access to fast food at school –Of those with fast food options, 54% eat fast food for lunch at least once a week
Eating Habits: Fast Food 73% eat fast food at least once a week
Eating Habits: Snacks 92% eat chips or candy or drink soda at least once/week
Physical Activity 66% of youth exercised 1 hr/day on four or more days
Physical Activity: Screen Time
Future Directions The Virginia Youth Obesity survey provides valuable baseline obesity data VFHY plans to continue collecting information on youth behaviors to measure trends and progress in reducing childhood obesity overtime