Fewer CA kids overweight, but Bay Area struggles

[alp227]

Source: SF Chronicle

For the first time in 30 years, the number of overweight schoolchildren in California is falling, suggesting that the state may finally be making some headway in the long battle to prevent childhood obesity, according to a report released today. But it's hardly time to start celebrating, public health officials said. Thirty-eight percent of public schoolchildren in fifth, seventh and ninth grades were overweight or obese in 2010 - only 1.1 percent fewer than in 2005.

And in most counties, including several in the Bay Area, rates continued to climb, sometimes sharply. San Francisco held steady, with about 32 percent of children overweight or obese in 2005 and 2010, and the percentage fell in only one of the nine Bay Area counties - San Mateo, which had 5.6 percent fewer overweight kids, putting its rate at 34 percent.

Those are hardly numbers to be proud of, public health officials said. But the report, put together by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, is at least reassuring that policies encouraging healthy behaviors in children might be starting to work.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/09/MNEA1LS82H.DTL

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For one thing, we need to improve school nutrition. How do we pave the road to end agribusiness welfare? Get money out of politics!

On the other hand, how many fat kids are being bullied regularly? According to Kateharding.net, weight and health are not mutually exclusive, and some people are just naturally fat.

[KurtNYC]

1. this seems unlikely

did they change the standard for "over weight"? That is where these improvements usually come from.

[XemaSab]

2. Probably 'cause all the poor people moved out of the Bay Area

:P