Community Corner
California Child Obesity Rates Decline
While overall obesity rates dip, some counties see increases in child obesity rates.
Childhood obesity rates in California fell slightly from 2005-2010 in a sign that the state might be starting to get a handle of the childhood obesity epidemic, according to a study released today by UCLA and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy.
But the authors warn that 31 of California's 58 counties actually saw increases in obesity rates. The rate among 6-11-year-olds is also four times higher than it was in 1980, and three times higher for 12-19-year-olds, the study found.
“Children's health is still at risk in a significant number of counties,'' said Susan Babey, a senior health research scientist at UCLA and the study's lead author.
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Childhood obesity increases the likelihood that kids will be obese as adults and increase their chances for chronic health problems like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, strokes and some cancers, according to the study.
The eight-page report is titled A Patchwork of Progress: Changes in Overweight and Obesity Among California 5th, 7th, and 9th Graders, 2005-2010.
Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, it was jointly researched and published by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the nonprofit California Center for Public Health Advocacy.
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Childhood obesity rates declined 1.1 percent statewide during the study period. The rate fell by 2.5 percent in Los Angeles County, according to the data gleaned from the California Physical Fitness Test. Still, nearly 39 percent of fifth, seventh and ninth graders in the six-county Southern California region were obese in 2010.
Del Norte County saw the largest spike in its childhood obesity rate, 16.2 percent. Trinity County in rural Northern California saw the steepest drop in its rate, a decline of 29 percent.
The data also showed obesity disproportionately affects Hispanic and African American children, who had childhood obesity rates of 46.2 percent and 39.3 percent respectively. Only 26.9 percent of white kids were obese in 2010.
The study estimates California insurance providers, government, employers and families spend more than $21 billion annually because of the health consequences of obesity.
