Percentage of U.S. children aged 6–11 classified as obese, selected years: This chart shows that the prevalence of child obesity almost tripled during the 1980s, continued to rise slowly, and then declined slightly in 2011. The wonderful news is that, as I note in the text, the prevalence of preschool obesity has recently decreased significantly.

Adapted from: National Center for Health Statistics, CDC, 2007–2008, CDC, Prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States 2011–2012.