United Way of California

As We See It: Little progress on childhood obesity

Santa Cruz Sentinel
November 10, 2011

With California's childhood obesity epidemic untamed, it's good to see at least some adults are cutting back on snacks and sweets.

State senators agreed this week to stop spending taxpayer funds to feed themselves, after a newspaper report that legislators have spent more than $111,000 this year on food.

Instead, members will be billed $2,000 a year for stocking their coffee break room and for meals when sessions extend into lunch or dinner hours.

The change came after the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday this year's food spending was up 10 percent over last year -- even as legislators approved cutting services for Californians by six percent and although senators are already getting $143 a day, tax free, for meals and lodging while they're in Sacramento.

Now that legislators have agreed to cut back, maybe kids will follow the trend. A report released this week by UCLA found that while a little progress has been made in combating childhood obesity in the state, there's a long way to go before anyone can declare this trend has reversed.

Overall, the report found a 1.1 percent decline statewide in the number of seriously unfit kids endangering their health because of excessive weight.

While that may sound like progress, Santa Cruz County did not experience even an incremental decline. In fact, the percent of obese or overweight children in fifth, seventh and ninth grades actually increased in this county, from 36.9 percent to 37.9 percent.

Why is turning the obesity tide proving so difficult -- especially in a county that seems so health conscious and where nutritious and healthy foods are both plentiful and celebrated?

The answer almost certainly is that for some county residents, organic foods and recreational exercise are lifestyle choices. People who are able to make these choices are often better off financially, have more education and more opportunity to influence their children's eating habits.

Not everyone may feel they have the time, opportunity, income and inclination to provide healthier foods. In the Mexican-American community, where childhood obesity rates have soared, high fat and high sugar content foods are part of traditional culture.

The obesity trend is abetted by long-standing societal trends that keep kids playing video games rather than exercising and the enduring popularity of sugary sodas and fast food.

There are positive developments, though. More public schools are providing healthier choices for school lunches. Physical fitness programs have proliferated in the Pajaro Valley area, including the Fitness 4 Life after school program for 3,000 kids that has won statewide recognition.

The United Way of Santa Cruz County's Go For Health! program has collaborated with Pajaro Valley agencies and youth, including Jovenes Sanos, to provide alternatives and education to combat obesity. Even the Watsonville City Council has gotten into the effort, passing a law last year requiring restaurants to offer healthy options.

Throughout the greater Bay Area, obesity rates were mostly up and with more than a third of kids overweight, the potential health problems remain ominous: diabetes, heart disease, musculoskeletal disorders, among others.

Raising public awareness is a good start. Getting all schools to sign onto serving more healthful lunchtime foods, and getting exercise back into the daily routine for kids must become priorities.

And a lack of funding should not be an obstacle -- since the short-term costs will be far outweighed by the cost to all of us if the childhood obesity epidemic continues.