Characteristics of adolescents aged 12–19 years, overall and by sex, NHANES 2015–2020
| Prevalence (SE) | ||||
| Total (N=2693) | Male (N=1401) | Female (N=1292) | P value, χ2 (t-test for means) | |
| Age (years) | ||||
| Mean | 15.4 (0.1) | 15.4 (0.1) | 15.4 (0.1) | 0.596 |
| 12–15 | 50.7 (1.1) | 52.9 (2.0) | 48.4 (1.7) | 0.132 |
| 16–19 | 49.3 (1.1) | 47.1 (2.0) | 51.6 (1.7) | |
| Sex | <0.001 | |||
| Male | 51.8 (1.6) | 100.0 | NA | |
| Female | 48.2 (1.6) | NA | 100.0 | |
| Race and ethnicity | 0.459 | |||
| Non-Hispanic white | 51.6 (3.3) | 52.9 (3.7) | 50.2 (3.4) | |
| Non-Hispanic black | 12.8 (1.8) | 12.1 (1.7) | 13.6 (2.0) | |
| Hispanic | 25.1 (2.5) | 24.9 (2.8) | 25.3 (2.5) | |
| Non-Hispanic Asian | 4.7 (0.9) | 4.9 (1.0) | 4.4 (0.9) | |
| Poverty income ratio* | 0.782 | |||
| <1.0 (below poverty threshold) | 20.2 (1.3) | 19.7 (1.8) | 20.8 (1.2) | |
| 1.0–2.0 | 23.9 (1.3) | 23.8 (1.8) | 24.0 (1.8) | |
| ≥2.0 | 55.9 (2.0) | 56.5 (2.4) | 55.2 (2.4) | |
| Food security | 0.197 | |||
| Secure | 64.0 (1.7) | 62.3 (2.4) | 65.9 (2.0) | |
| Marginal/low | 36.0 (1.7) | 37.7 (2.4) | 34.1 (2.0) | |
| Adiposity† | 0.035 | |||
| Underweight | 3.1 (0.6) | 4.0 (1.0) | 2.1 (0.7) | |
| Normal | 53.6 (1.5) | 54.4 (2.0) | 52.6 (2.5) | |
| Overweight | 20.3 (1.0) | 18.5 (1.4) | 22.3 (1.4) | |
| Obese | 23.0 (1.2) | 23.0 (1.7) | 22.9 (1.5) | |
| A1c (%) | 0.588 | |||
| <5.7 (<39 mmol/mol) | 92.9 (0.8) | 93.2 (1.1) | 92.6 (1.0) | |
| 5.7%-<6.5 (39–48 mmol/mol) | 6.6 (0.7) | 6.1 (0.9) | 7.0 (1.0) | |
| ≥6.5 (≥48 mmol/mol) | 0.5 (0.2) | 0.6 (0.4) | 0.4 (0.2) | |
| Fasting plasma glucose (mg/dL) | <0.001 | |||
| <100 | 67.1 (3.0) | 58.0 (3.8) | 76.7 (2.7) | |
| 100-<126 | 32.3 (3.0) | 41.0 (3.8) | 23.1 (2.6) | |
| ≥126 | 0.6 (0.3) | 1.0 (0.5) | 0.2 (0.1) | |
| Hypertension‡ | 2.1 (0.3) | 2.7 (0.4) | 1.6 (0.5) | 0.091 |
| Hyperlipidemia§ | ||||
| High total cholesterol | 27.6 (1.3) | 23.2 (1.3) | 32.3 (1.8) | <0.001 |
| Low HDL | 32.2 (1.5) | 40.4 (2.2) | 23.4 (1.4) | <0.001 |
| High LDL | 16.5 (1.7) | 16.1 (2.3) | 17.0 (2.3) | 0.777 |
| High triglyceride | 7.7 (0.9) | 8.7 (1.5) | 6.6 (1.1) | 0.271 |
| C reactive protein (mg/L) | ||||
| Mean | 1.9 (0.1) | 1.8 (0.2) | 2.1 (0.1) | 0.186 |
| Low risk, <1.0 | 62.1 (1.5) | 65.3 (2.3) | 58.6 (1.9) | 0.024 |
| Average risk, 1.0–3.0 | 22.6 (1.1) | 22.2 (1.8) | 23.0 (1.4) | |
| High risk, >3.0 | 15.3 (1.0) | 12.5 (1.2) | 18.4 (1.6) | |
*Poverty income ratio: ratio of family income to poverty; value of <1.0 indicates below the Federal poverty threshold, 1.0–2.0 indicates 1–2 times above the poverty threshold; ≥2.0 indicates two or more times above the poverty threshold.
†Adiposity: Underweight, BMI <5th percentile of age-specific and sex-specific NCHS growth charts. Normal, BMI 5th–<85th percentile of age-specific and sex-specific NCHS growth charts. Overweight, BMI 85th–<95th percentile of age- and sex-specific NCHS growth charts. Obesity, BMI greater ≥95th percentile of age- and sex-specific NCHS growth charts
‡Hypertension, current use of antihypertensive medication or average SBP or DBP ≥95th percentile of age-specific, sex-specific and height-specific blood pressure for age 12–17; BP ≥140/90 mm Hg for male and female age 18–19 years.
§Hyperlipidemia: High total cholesterol, ≥170 mg/dL. High LDL, ≥110 mg/dL. Low HDL, ≤45 mg/dL. High triglyceride, ≥130 mg/dL
DBP, diastolic blood pressure; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; NA, not applicable; NCHS, National Center for Health Statistics; NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; SBP, systolic blood pressure.