{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T17:56:14Z","timestamp":1788544574649,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,15]],"date-time":"2024-05-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1715731200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Recent national trends in the United States indicate a significant increase in childhood obesity, a major public health concern with documented physical and mental comorbidities and sociodemographic disparities. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of obesity and severe obesity among youth in New York City (NYC) before the COVID-19 pandemic and examine time trends overall and by key characteristics. We included all valid height and weight measurements of kindergarten through 8<jats:sup>th<\/jats:sup> grade public school students aged 5 to 15 from school years 2011\u201312 through 2019\u201320 (N = 1,370,890 unique students; 5,254,058 observations). Obesity and severe obesity were determined using age- and sex-specific body mass index percentiles based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts. Analyses were performed using multivariate logistic regression models with repeated cross-sectional observations weighted to represent the student population for each year and clustered by student and school. Among youth attending public elementary and middle schools in NYC, we estimate that 20.9% and 6.4% had obesity and severe obesity, respectively, in 2019\u201320. While consistent declines in prevalence were observed overall from 2011\u201312 to 2019\u201320 (2.8% relative decrease in obesity and 0.2% in severe obesity, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>&lt;0.001), increasing trends were observed among Black, Hispanic, and foreign-born students, suggesting widening disparities. Extending previous work reporting prevalence estimates in this population, nearly all groups experienced significant increases in obesity and severe obesity from 2016\u201317 to 2019\u201320 (relative change = 3.5% and 6.7%, respectively, overall; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>&lt;0.001). Yet, some of the largest increases in obesity were observed among those already bearing the greatest burden, such as Black and Hispanic students and youth living in poverty. These findings highlight the need for greater implementation of equity-centered obesity prevention efforts. Future research should consider the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in clinical guidance on childhood obesity and severe obesity in NYC.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0302099","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,15]],"date-time":"2024-05-15T17:24:30Z","timestamp":1715793870000},"page":"e0302099","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Increasing disparities in obesity and severe obesity prevalence among public elementary and middle school students in New York City, school years 2011\u201312 through 2019\u201320"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8272-2565","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Kira L.","family":"Argenio","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sophia E.","family":"Day","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0468-4836","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Emily M.","family":"D\u2019Agostino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cody","family":"Neshteruk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8969-3653","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Brooke E.","family":"Wagner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kevin J.","family":"Konty","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,15]]},"reference":[{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0302099.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"524","DOI":"10.1210\/js.2017-00044","article-title":"Body mass index and incident Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in children and young adults: A retrospective cohort study","volume":"1","author":"A Abbasi","year":"2017","journal-title":"Journal of the Endocrine Society"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0302099.ref002","article-title":"Being overweight or obese and the development of asthma","volume":"142","author":"JE Lang","year":"2018","journal-title":"Pediatrics"},{"issue":"14","key":"pone.0302099.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1307","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa1502821","article-title":"Cardiometabolic risks and severity of obesity in children and young adults","volume":"373","author":"AC Skinner","year":"2015","journal-title":"The New England journal of medicine"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0302099.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"497","DOI":"10.1007\/s00787-014-0598-8","article-title":"Association between mental health and comorbid obesity and hypertension among children and adolescents in the US","volume":"24","author":"J Tevie","year":"2015","journal-title":"European child & adolescent psychiatry"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0302099.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1208","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2020.14590","article-title":"Trends in obesity prevalence by race and Hispanic origin-1999-2000 to 2017\u20132018","volume":"324","author":"CL Ogden","year":"2020","journal-title":"Jama"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0302099.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1495","DOI":"10.1093\/ajcn\/nqab237","article-title":"Changes in adiposity among children and adolescents in the United States, 1999\u20132006 to 2011\u20132018","volume":"114","author":"B Stierman","year":"2021","journal-title":"The American journal of clinical nutrition"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0302099.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1542\/peds.2021-053708","article-title":"Changes in the incidence of childhood obesity","volume":"150","author":"SA Cunningham","year":"2022","journal-title":"Pediatrics"},{"issue":"23","key":"pone.0302099.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2410","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2018.5158","article-title":"Differences in obesity prevalence by demographics and urbanization in US children and adolescents, 2013\u20132016","volume":"319","author":"CL Ogden","year":"2018","journal-title":"Jama"},{"key":"pone.0302099.ref009","unstructured":"New York City Department of Education (DOE). 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