DSHS Obesity Data Sheet October 2007
Texas Overweight and Obesity Statistics

GENERAL STATISTICS

• In 2006, an estimated 10.1 million or 62 percent of Texas adults were overweight or obese.1

• If the current trends continue, 20 million or 75 percent of Texas adults might be overweight or obese
by the year 2040, and the cost to Texas could quadruple from $10.5 billion today to as much as $39
billion by 2040.2

• A report released in 2005 found that Texas reported it had the 6th highest prevalence in adult obesity
in the U.S., with an average of 25.3% of the adult population obese between 2002 and 2004.3

The
2006 report dropped Texas to the 10th ranking state with an average of 25.8% obese between 2003
and 2005,4 and the 2007 report dropped Texas to the 12th ranking state with an average of 26.3%
obese between 2004 and 2006.5 Unfortunately, Texas dropped in ranking because the prevalence
increased in other states; not because the state of obesity had improved in Texas.

• According to the Texas Department of State Health Services Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance
System (BRFSS), overweight and obesity are more pronounced among men, minorities and middleaged
adults.1

• According to the Texas Department of State Health Services Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance
System (BRFSS) in 2004, 28% of Texas adults reported spending 4 or more hours on a typical day
sitting and watching television, videos, or using a computer outside of work.6

• The Center’s for Disease Control and Prevention’s Breastfeeding Report Card 2007 reported
breastfeeding data from mothers who gave birth in 2004. The Texas data indicated that 75% of
mothers initiated breastfeeding, 37% breastfed at 6 months, and 19% breastfed at 12 months. 25% of
moms were exclusively breastfeeding through 3 months postpartum, and 7% exclusively breastfed
through 6 months.7

CHILD AND ADOLESCENT STATISTICS

• The prevalence of childhood overweight was greater in Texas in 2004-2005 than the U.S. rates
reported for the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).8,9 The
overall prevalence of overweight and at-risk for overweight** in Texas schoolchildren was 42 percent
for fourth-graders, 39 percent for eighth-graders and 36 percent for eleventh-graders in 2004-2005.8

• In 2004-2005, the percentage of overweight students in Texas was much higher among minorities,
with the highest prevalence of overweight in Hispanic boys in 4th grade and 11th grade.8

• In 2005, 29 percent of Texas high-school students were overweight or at risk of becoming**
overweight.10

• From 2000-2002 to 2004-2005, the prevalence of overweight** increased among both eighth- and
eleventh-graders, but slightly dropped among fourth-graders in Texas from 25.6% to 23%. 8

• According to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) in 2005, 41% of Texas
adolescents in grades 9-12 watch television for 3 or more hours per day on an average school day.10

• The SPAN III survey reported similar findings, with 44% of 11th graders in Texas reporting watching
TV 3 or more hours per day.8