More than a quarter of Mississippi children ages 10 to 17 are obese, giving the state the nation’s highest rate of youth obesity, according to new data.
Nationwide, nearly 16% of kids ages 10 to 17 have obesity, according to a report released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and based on data from the 2016-2017 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). But rates varied significantly from state to state, ranging from Mississippi’s 26.1% to Utah’s 8.7%.
