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Penn State Harrisburg's Center for Survey
Research in a recent study of a group of youth
in Pennsylvania found that 18 percent of eighth
graders were overweight and another 17 percent
are at risk of being overweight.
The center conducted the study to determine the
prevalence of overweight children and youth in
Pennsylvania and in recognition of the growing
national problem of childhood obesity. The assessment
measured the height and weight of more than 25,000
students in 160 schools over three school years,
from 1999 to 2001.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health evaluated
the information gathered in the Penn State study
using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's
Body Mass Index (BMI)-for-age growth chart. The
department is conducting a pilot BMI program in
10 Pennsylvania schools to evaluate the feasibility
of instituting an updated school growth screening
program to monitor growth trends in youth.
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