Impact Essex County

What does this measure?

The share of children in grades 1, 4, 7 and 10 considered overweight according to the Body Mass Index. Children are considered overweight if their BMI is at or above the 85th percentile for their age and gender, and they are considered obese at or above the 95th percentile. BMI is an estimate of body fat based on height and weight.

Why is this important?

Overweight children are at greater risk for many health problems, including high blood pressure and cholesterol, breathing problems, fatty liver disease, and type 2 diabetes, bone and joint problems. Overweight children and adolescents are also more likely to face social and psychological problems, such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem, and to be overweight as adults.

BMI-For-Age data is collected and reported as part of the "Mass in Motion" initiative started in 2009 by the Massachusetts Department of Health in an effort to reduce the prevalence of overweight children across the state.

How is our county doing?

In 2022, 25% of Essex children were considered overweight. This was slightly higher than the state rate of 22% and 10 percentage points lower than in 2011. Among individual school districts with reported data, Lawrence had the highest rate (39%), followed by Haverhill and Lynn (both at 31%). The lowest rates were in the Swampscott School District (6%) and the Hamilton-Wenham School District (7%).

Notes about the data

State and county figures are aggregated from school district level data and may not represent the total enrollment of students in grades 1, 4, 7 and 10, due to data suppression for confidentiality when low numbers of students are screened, or errors in data generation and reporting.

Data from 2020 and 2021 is not available.

Children Who are Overweight or Obese

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2017	2018	2019	2022
Essex County, MA	35%	33%	32%	31%	32%	35%	19%	19%	25%
Middlesex County, MA	31%	29%	29%	28%	29%	28%	14%	15%	15%
Massachusetts	32%	32%	32%	31%	32%	32%	17%	17%	22%
School Districts in Essex
Amesbury		27%	28%		23%	22%	15%
Andover		22%	23%	21%	19%	21%	8%
Beverly		32%	32%	35%	34%	33%	19%	19%	17%
Danvers	29%	33%	33%	27%	30%	31%	17%	16%	21%
Essex Agricultural Technical	32%	31%	31%	33%
Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical					35%	35%	16%	18%	8%
Georgetown	20%	22%	18%	18%		15%	5%	6%
Gloucester	35%	37%	36%	37%	37%	40%	21%	22%	23%
Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational Technical		47%	49%	47%	49%		28%	27%	30%
Hamilton-Wenham	25%	17%	13%	15%	13%	18%	8%	7%	7%
Haverhill	39%	39%	40%	37%	40%	41%	23%	23%	31%
Hill View Montessori Charter Public		30%	25%
Ipswich	17%	21%	17%	19%	21%	26%		14%
KIPP Academy Lynn Charter		45%	40%	43%	48%		26%	24%
Lawrence	45%	47%	44%			46%	28%		39%
Lawrence Family Development Charter	52%	49%	41%	55%	49%		30%	26%
Lynn	39%	39%	42%	39%	39%	43%	25%	25%	31%
Lynnfield		31%	26%	23%	27%	26%	22%	8%	8%
Manchester Essex Regional	23%	22%	23%	21%	18%		9%	11%
Marblehead	21%	22%	23%	24%	29%	25%	11%	11%	11%
Marblehead Community Charter Public			37%	27%	25%
Masconomet		22%	21%	21%	20%
Methuen	36%	30%	32%	34%	35%	33%		16%	13%
Nahant	26%
Newburyport	28%	28%	24%	29%	23%	30%	9%	8%	9%
North Andover	27%	26%	26%	25%	27%	25%	11%		16%
North Shore Regional Vocational Technical	44%	44%	37%	38%
Peabody	38%	39%	40%	42%	42%	40%	20%	22%	23%
Pentucket		23%	23%	23%	21%
River Valley Charter		14%	13%	24%	16%			10%
Rockport	23%	26%	20%	29%	27%	30%	13%	13%	18%
Salem	37%	37%	39%	43%	40%	43%
Salem Academy Charter		35%	38%	41%			22%	20%
Saugus	34%	35%		32%	34%		16%	21%
Swampscott	24%						15%		6%
Triton	27%	27%	26%	27%	27%	32%	14%	11%
Whittier Regional Vocational Technical	42%	42%	40%	38%	42%		21%	27%

Source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Notes: State and county figures aggregated from school district level data

Number of Children Who are Overweight or Obese

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2017	2018	2019	2022
Essex County, MA	9,141	10,731	10,022	8,703	8,598	9,299	4,837	3,275	4,874
Middlesex County, MA	15,374	16,352	16,756	16,631	16,996	14,827	7,154	6,862	4,373
Massachusetts	65,573	77,830	77,020	74,840	76,666	67,730	36,647	31,484	29,180
School Districts in Essex
Amesbury		192	174		151	133	82
Andover		411	417	385	289	368	131
Beverly		378	402	372	444	434	195	211	203
Danvers	297	365	364	291	304	316	175	159	159
Essex Agricultural Technical	33	33	32	36
Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical					87	97	47	53	19
Georgetown	84	105	77	76		60	19	22
Gloucester	333	329	307	307	299	341	175	184	194
Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational Technical		152	166	153	166		109	108	117
Hamilton-Wenham	110	100	73	80	73	97	40	33	34
Haverhill	842	882	836	781	695	747	486	288	507
Hill View Montessori Charter Public		27	22
Ipswich	102	93	98	111	89	139		30
KIPP Academy Lynn Charter		38	69	74	98		52	74
Lawrence	1,974	1,726	1,288			1,670	947		1,438
Lawrence Family Development Charter	91	82	71	108	96		64	57
Lynn	1,532	1,490	1,621	1,720	1,635	1,896	1,084	1,042	1,270
Lynnfield		201	180	161	164	170	130	52	33
Manchester Essex Regional	103	102	103	97	67		34	41
Marblehead	192	224	221	192	278	234	102	110	37
Marblehead Community Charter Public			31	25	22
Masconomet		273	249	253	242
Methuen	733	581	640	590	600	624		62	210
Nahant	15
Newburyport	198	183	165	187	162	178	58	50	52
North Andover	377	360	384	360	365	372	146		192
North Shore Regional Vocational Technical	53	50	48	44
Peabody	670	719	661	677	696	583	313	331	337
Pentucket		199	209	195	161
River Valley Charter		14	12	27	15			10
Rockport	67	75	56	87	77	84	34	33	41
Salem	522	442	491	521	496	527
Salem Academy Charter		34	38	45			31	27
Saugus	301	297		265	280		124	158
Swampscott	165						93		30
Triton	238	242	215	211	224	229	101	70
Whittier Regional Vocational Technical	109	128	118	112	141		66	70

Source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Notes: State and county figures aggregated from school district level data

INDICATORS	TREND \| ESSEX COUNTY
People 65 or Older Living Alone	Decreasing
Early Prenatal Care by Mother's Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Prevalence of Overweight Adults	Not Applicable
Preterm Births	Maintaining
Infant Mortality Rate	Maintaining
Children with Elevated Blood Lead Levels	Decreasing
Children Living in Poverty	Decreasing
Children Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Disengaged Youth	Increasing
Live Births to Teen Mothers	Decreasing
Youth Arrests	Decreasing
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Establishments	Maintaining
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Employment	Maintaining
Tourism Spending	Increasing
Voter Participation Rate	Increasing
Charitable Contributions	Maintaining
Protected Land	Not Applicable
Days with Good Air Quality	Increasing
Beach Contamination	Increasing
Daily Water Use per Resident	Maintaining
Crimes Against People	Maintaining
Crimes Against Property	Decreasing
Drug-Related Arrests	Maintaining
Reports of Domestic Violence	Maintaining
Incarceration Rates	Decreasing
Recidivism	Decreasing
Households Without Vehicles	Decreasing
Means of Transportation to Work	Not Applicable
Traffic Injuries and Fatalities	Maintaining
Households With Internet Access	Increasing
Change in Total Population	Increasing
Change in Population by Age/Sex	Not Applicable
People with Disabilities	Maintaining
Households by Type	Not Applicable
Single-Parent Families by Sex	Not Applicable
Single-Parent Families by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Change in Population by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Foreign-Born Population	Increasing
Language Diversity	Increasing
Change in Total Jobs	Increasing
Change in Jobs by Sector	Not Applicable
Change in Average Salary	Increasing
Change in Average Salary by Sector	Not Applicable
Average Salary by Sector	Not Applicable
Median Earnings by Occupation by Gender	Not Applicable
People Entering/Leaving County for Work	Not Applicable
Employer Size	Not Applicable
Self-Employment Revenue	Increasing
Business Ownership by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Unemployment Rate	Increasing
Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Prekindergarten Participation	Not Applicable
Female Enrollment in School	Not Applicable
Chronically Absent Students	Increasing
Per-Student Spending	Increasing
Bullying	Maintaining
Student Performance on Grade 3 Reading	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 8 Math by Student Group	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 10 English Language Arts	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 10 Math	Not Applicable
High School Cohort Graduation Rate	Increasing
High School Cohort Graduation Rate by Student Group	Not Applicable
Education Levels of Adults	Not Applicable
Bachelor's Degree or Higher by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Income in Relation to Poverty Level	Not Applicable
People Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Median Household Income	Increasing
Median Household Income by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Median Household Income by Household Type	Not Applicable
Living Wage Rate by Household Type	Not Applicable
Access to Financial Services, by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Households Receiving Temporary Assistance	Increasing
Households Receiving Federal Food Assistance	Increasing
Participation in Food Assistance by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Earned Income Tax Credit Participation	Decreasing
Economically Disadvantaged Students	Increasing
Median Home Value	Increasing
Cost of Homeownership	Increasing
Cost of Renting	Increasing
Homeownership Rates	Maintaining
Homeownership Rates by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Homeless Persons	Not Applicable
People Without Health Insurance	Decreasing
Medical Care Expenses	Increasing
Prevalence of Children with Asthma	Decreasing
Prevalence of Overweight Children	Decreasing
Diabetes Incidence	Decreasing
Chronic Disease Among Older Adults	Increasing
Cancer Incidence	Decreasing
Cancer Mortality Rate	Decreasing
Heart Disease Mortality Rate	Decreasing
Mortality Rate	Maintaining
People who Smoke	Not Applicable
Use of Illegal Drugs	Not Applicable
Youth Use of Illegal Drugs	Not Applicable
Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions	Not Applicable
Drug Overdose Mortality Rate	Increasing
Prevalence of Mental Illness	Maintaining
Suicide Rate	Maintaining
Children Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Single-Parent Families by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Change in Population by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 3 Reading	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 8 Math by Student Group	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 10 English Language Arts	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 10 Math	Not Applicable
High School Cohort Graduation Rate by Student Group	Not Applicable
Bachelor's Degree or Higher by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
People Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Median Household Income by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Participation in Food Assistance by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Homeownership Rates by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable

INDICATORS

TREND | ESSEX COUNTY