Community Corner

Childhood Obesity Slims Down in San Diego County

A new report shows a decline in the percentage of San Diego County children considered obese.

The percentage of obese children in San Diego County dropped 3.7 points over a five-year period starting in 2005, according to a study released Wednesday.

The drop was the largest of any county in Southern California, according to "A Patchwork of Progress: Changes in Overweight and Obesity Among California 5th, 7th, and 9th Graders, 2005-2010."

The percentage of youth who were considered obese in San Diego County in 2005 was 35.8 percent, according to the report by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

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In 2010, it was 34.5 percent, but because the overall population of tested students was larger the second time around, the authors of the study determined the decrease to be 3.7 percent.

"The most recent overweight and obesity prevalence data offers hope that the childhood obesity epidemic in California may finally have peaked," according to the report.

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Statewide, the obesity rate dropped 1.1 percent to about 38 percent.

Obesity rates, however, are three times higher for teenagers than 30 years ago, and four times higher for children 6-11 years old, according to the report.

The figures came from California Physical Fitness Test results by students in fifth, seventh and ninth grades.

The latest results, from the 2009-10 school year, show most Poway Unified School District students in grades 5, 7 and 9 to be in the "healthy fitness zone" under the California Physical Fitness Test category for body composition, which includes a look at a student's body mass index (BMI).

PUSD Fitness By the Numbers* 5th Grade 7th Grade 9th Grade In Healthy Fitness Zone for Body Composition 84.4% 84.7% 85.7% In Healthy Fitness Zone for All 6 Fitness Categories 52% 63.1% 64.2%

*Source: California Department of Education, California Physical Fitness Test, 2009-10.

-City News Service

Rancho Bernardo Patch Editor Shauntel Lowe contributed to this report.


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