Washoe County children are overweight or obese in greater rates than the national average, according to a release issued Tuesday by the Washoe County District Health Department.

For the first time ever, local data has been collected on Washoe County kids and presented in the EPI Newsletter of the Washoe County Health District.

“Overweight and obesity is a national epidemic and this data proves that Washoe County is not exempt,” said district health officer Dr. Mary Anderson. “We hope these findings encourage our community members to make individual lifestyle changes and support local efforts to improve the health of our children.”

Highlights from the report include:

• 60 percent of Washoe County children are considered to be at a healthy weight.

• 37.5 percent of Washoe County children are considered to be overweight or obese. This is greater than the national average of 31.9 percent.

• 1.3 percent of Washoe County children are considered to be underweight.

• Elementary school students showed slightly higher rates of obesity (19.9 percent) than middle school (18.5 percent) or high school (17.8 percent).

Overweight children are more likely to have risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes.

The Health Department has these recommendations:

• If you have children, encourage healthy eating and daily physical activity.

• Make sure that you are setting a good example by making healthy choices, including reducing sedentary time such as watching television.

• Ask for your children’s weight classification to be calculated at every doctor’s visit. Reports show that most parents are not accurate in visually assessing their child’s weight grouping.

• Support legislation to continue collection of height and weight of children. This is the most accurate way to determine if preventive efforts are effective.

For more information, visit www.gethealthywashoe.com or www.cdc.gov.