Why we start with children’s health.
Nueces County is one of the heaviest, most diabetic counties in Texas. These are the public-health numbers our neighbors live inside — and the free resources that can change them.
Nueces County compared to Texas and the nation.
Adults, age-adjusted. Every one of these measures is worse here than the state and the country — and each one is a condition that begins forming in childhood.
| Measure (adults) | Nueces County | Texas | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity | 44.0% | 34.2% | 32.6% |
| Diagnosed diabetes | 15.5% | 13.4% | 10.8% |
| No physical activity or exercise | 34.4% | 27.6% | 23.7% |
| Coronary heart disease | 6.7% | 3.1% | 3.4% |
| High blood pressure | 33.1% | 30.8% | 31.1% |
| Diagnosed stroke | 3.4% | 3.1% | 2.9% |
Source: 2025 Corpus Christi–Nueces County Community Health Assessment, drawing on CDC PLACES and BRFSS data for 2021–2022. Obesity is a body mass index of 30 or higher. The county health district has publicly described the local adult obesity rate as roughly 40 percent; estimates vary by data year and method, but every source puts Nueces County above both averages.
Roughly two in five adults. One in six with diabetes.
The last figure comes from the Nueces County Community Health Survey; 34.9 percent of respondents named obesity. Our neighbors already know. 2025 Community Health Assessment.
The habits are already set by fifth grade.
Texas tests physical fitness in schools every year, and the local results have been sobering for more than a decade. In 2013, 53.4 percent of Corpus Christi ISD elementary students assessed with FitnessGram measured overweight or obese. A peer-reviewed study of 492 local kindergarten-through-fifth-grade students found an average obesity rate of 31.6 percent — nearly double the national rate of 17.7 percent for the same ages.
Statewide surveillance tells the same story: the Texas School Physical Activity and Nutrition survey (2021–2023) found obesity rising among Texas secondary students since COVID, with severe obesity most pronounced in older grades, and border and South Texas counties carrying higher rates than the state as a whole.
Type 2 diabetes in a child is not a sudden diagnosis. It is ten years of no coach, no kitchen and no follow-up. That is precisely the gap Ignite Fit is built to close.
Sources: Musculoskeletal Fitness Measures Are Not Created Equal, Frontiers in Public Health (2018), reporting Corpus Christi ISD FitnessGram data from 2013; Texas SPAN 2021–2023, Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. Child figures are the most recent local measurements published; we are working to obtain current district data.
It is hard to eat well on an empty pantry.
Food insecurity is higher here
Food insecurity in Nueces County runs above state and national levels across every racial and ethnic group. Among non-Hispanic Black residents the rate reaches roughly 35 percent.
Chronic disease is the top concern
The 2025 assessment names diabetes, hypertension and obesity as the county’s leading chronic-disease burdens, compounded by gaps in access and social conditions.
Prevention is not being taught
Focus groups described inadequate services for chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease — with education and prevention the piece most often missing.
Source: 2025 Corpus Christi–Nueces County Community Health Assessment.
Start here. All of it is free.
Trusted, no-cost information for families who want to act on these numbers at home. Ignite His Glory is not a medical provider — we point you to the people who are, and we walk with you.
Preventing type 2 diabetes
- CDC National Diabetes Prevention Program — the yearlong lifestyle change program, and how to find one near you
- NIH / NIDDK: Preventing Type 2 Diabetes
- Texas DSHS Diabetes Program — state data, fact sheets and education materials
Eating well on a real budget
- MyPlate (USDA) — simple plate-building, recipes and shopping tools
- American Diabetes Association: Food & Nutrition
- Coastal Bend Food Bank — local food assistance, (361) 887-6291
Getting children moving
- CDC: how much activity children need — 60 minutes a day, ages 6–17
- CDC guidelines for school-aged children and adolescents
- Ignite Fit — our free ten-week coached season, ages 8–17
Local help and local data
- Corpus Christi–Nueces County Public Health District
- 2025 Community Health Assessment (PDF) — the full local report
- Child Obesity in Texas — UTHealth Dell Center report
These links go to independent organizations; Ignite His Glory does not control their content. Nothing on this page is medical advice. Talk with your doctor or clinic before changing a child’s diet, medication or exercise routine.
Four guides for families.
Eating well on a budget
The plate, the sugary-drink problem, a starter pantry and local food help.
A statistic changes when one child changes.
Ignite Fit costs $896 per child and nothing to the family. Sponsor a child, sponsor a season, or bring your child to the next one.