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• Childhood obesity is on the rise in Tennessee
• Physical education and activity in schools is not always required
• Physical education and activity at school has many benefits for children
• Participating Schools

Fast Facts

Obesity levels are growing at alarming rates.

Research shows that physical activity performed at school may help improve academic performance. In addition, positive experiences with physical activity at a young age help lay the foundation for being regularly active throughout life.

Childhood obesity is on the rise in Tennessee

• An estimated 19 to 30 percent of Tennessee school students are overweight.
• Twenty-five to 43 percent of Tennessee school students are at risk for being overweight.
• Tennessee received an ‘F’ from “Report Card: State Efforts to Control Childhood Obesity.”
• Tennessee ranks 48th among states for overall health.
• About 15.8 percent of children ages 6 to 11 are obese, according to statistics from 1999 to 2002. That’s way up from 11.3 percent from 1988 to 1994; 6.5 percent from 1975 to 1980; and 4 percent from 1971 to 1974.
• Being overweight has important health consequences in children, including childhood onset of Type 2 diabetes – 33 percent of males and 39 percent of females born in 2000 are at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. In addition, heart disease is a concern – 60 percent of 5 to 10 year-olds have at least one risk factor for heart disease and 25 percent have two or more.
• Forty-three percent of students in the U.S. reported they were trying to lose weight.
• The average child gets less than 15 minutes of vigorous activity a day.
• Nine out of 10 parents think their children are fit, when only one out of three actually is.
• Because children make lifestyle decisions that can last a lifetime, overweight children have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight adults.
• Hospital costs related to childhood obesity have tripled in the last 20 years.

Sources: Tennessee Coordinated School Health Program; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Trust for America’s Health; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; American Obesity Association Survey; Fitness for Youth, University of Michigan.

© 2005 BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Inc., an Independent Licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association.

® Registered marks of the BlueCross BlueShield Association, an Association of Independent BlueCross BlueShield Plans. BlueCross WalkingWorks for Schools was developed by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Health, in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Education, the Tennessee Department of Health, and the Tennessee Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

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