Child obesity in the United States has more than doubled in

Child obesity in the United States has more than doubled in children in the past 30 years (www.cdc.gov). The formula for the percent of children aged 6 – 11 years old in the United States who are obese since 1976 is given by P(t)=0.3509t+5.7881. Round all decimals to the nearest hundredths.

What percent of children ages 6 – 11 years old were obese in 1976?

Type equation here. Answer in a complete sentence. Use functional notation to express the percent of children ages 6 – 11 years old who were obese in 2001.

Calculate the percent of children who were obese in 2001. Show how you calculated this value then write the answer using functional notation. Round all decimals to two places. Type equation here. Type equation here. Answer in a complete sentence.

Solution

P(t) = 0.3509t + 5.7881

a) percent of children ages 6 – 11 years old were obese in 1976

plug t=0; P(0) = 0 +5.7881 = 5.7881 = 5.79 % children

5.79 %of children were obese in 2001

b) percent of children who were obese in 2001

plug t = 15 in P(t) :

P(15) = 0.3509*15 + 5.7881 = 11.04 %

11.04 %of children were obese in 2001