A new report from San Diego county revealed that many students are still overweight or obese, and many of them reside in low-income, disadvantaged communities. The obesity rate for Latino students is more than twice as high for Latino and low-income children.
“Nearly in every corner of my street, there’s a fast-food restaurant,” said Kearny High student Miguel Molina. “The sidewalks have cracks on them and some streets don’t even have sidewalks.”
For many school districts, only a few place strong emphasis on physical activity and physical education. Additionally, few districts limit or ban flavored milk and sweet drinks.
“As pediatricians, we often get frustrated because we’re telling families and children to just eat better and move more and we’re not seeing the changes,” said Dr. Natalie Muth.
The fight to end childhood obesity will take the combined efforts from government, schools, and community champions to make a difference. Findings from the report came from studying fifth, seventh and ninth graders in public schools during the 2014-2015 school year, the entire report can be found here.
Recent Comments