New Policy Brief! Childhood Overweight and Obesity in Rhode Island: Updated Data for Rhode Island

Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, in partnership with the Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute and the Center for Health Data and Analysis at the Rhode Island Department of Health, held a virtual dialogue on newly available child overweight and obesity data. At the event, we released our latest Policy Brief -- Childhood Overweight and Obesity: Updated Data for Rhode Island .

The data show that in Rhode Island:
  • Among Rhode Island children ages two to 17, 17% are obese and 13% are overweight.
  • Thirty percent of Rhode Island children ages two to 17 are either overweight or obese, compared to 35% in 2016.
  • Rhode Island boys have higher rates of obesity than girls in every age group.
  • Overweight and obesity start as early as age two. Twenty-four percent of Rhode Island children ages two to four are overweight or obese. Thirty-one percent of children between ages five and 17 are either overweight or obese. 
  • Twenty-two percent of Rhode Island children covered by public insurance are obese compared to 12% of children with private health insurance.
  • There are notable racial and ethnic disparities: over a third of Hispanic (36%) and non-Hispanic Black (37%) children in Rhode Island are overweight or obese. Non-Hispanic Black girls and Hispanic boys have the highest rates of obesity at 26% and 24% respectively.

For more information, please see the full publication and media release .