Evie's Desk: F as In Fat

The annual report, produced by the nonprofit Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, gives statistics on each state throughout the nation for both children and adults. And while California's adults are actually some of the least obese in the nation overall, ranking 41st, there are startling disparities along racial lines. According to the report, California's Latino population ranks 17th in the nation and our African-American population ranks 22nd.

Children 10-17 rank 25th in the nation, with 15.5 percent of California's children in that age range  considered as obese, and this does not even count those kids who are simply overweight. To see more specific statistics, and to learn about what First 5 LA is doing to combat the epidemic, see today's article Moving Forward, Goal Areas: Children Maintain a Healthy Weight.

Fortunately the report was not all bad news. California is working to reduce the number of obese children through a number of policy changes, including:

• California set nutritional standards for school lunches, breakfasts, and snacks that are stricter than current United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) requirements. Twenty states and D.C. have set such standards. Five years ago, only four states had legislation requiring stricter standards.
• California has nutritional standards for competitive foods sold in schools on á la carte lines, in vending machines, in school stores, or through school bake sales. Twenty-eight states and D.C. have nutritional standards for competitive foods. Five years ago, only six states had such standards.
• California has passed requirements for body mass index (BMI) screenings of children and adolescents or legislation requiring other forms of weight-related assessments in schools. Twenty states have passed such requirements for BMI screenings. Five years ago, only four states had passed screening requirements.
• California has passed Complete Streets legislation, which aims to ensure that all users -- pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities -- have safe access to a community's streets. Thirteen states have passed Complete Streets legislation.

I'm glad that First 5 LA has selected obesity as one of the needs of children to concentrate on in our new strategic plan.

Evelyn V. Martinez

Executive Director
First 5 LA

###

"Evie's Desk" is a regular feature of our weekly newsletter, "Monday Morning Report". Subscribe now or view past issues.