Trends and racial/ethnic disparities in severe obesity among US children and adolescents, 1976-2006

Introduction. This study aims to describe the trends and racial/ethnic differences in prevalence of severe obesity among US children. Methods. We examined height and weight measurements from US children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years using three National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES II: 1976-1980, N = 7 201, NHANES III: 1988-1994, N = 10 600, and NHANES 1999-2006, N = 15 980). We estimated the prevalence of severe obesity, defined as having a body mass index (BMI) above 35 kg/m