California Childhood Obesity Rate Falls, but Some Counties Struggling

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A new study released today offers hope that the state may finally be getting a handle on its 30-year battle with childhood obesity, but also showcases a patchwork of progress that leaves the majority of counties in the state still registering increases in obesity rates among California’s school-age children.

According to the study, A Patchwork of Progress: Changesin Overweight and Obesity Among California 5th, 7th and 9th Graders, 2005-2010, prepared by our client, the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the percentage of overweight and obese children in the state dropped 1.1 percent from 2005 to 2010. However, 38 percent of children are still affected – a rate nearly three times higher than it was 30 years ago when the obesity epidemic began. Improvements are not being seen statewide, with 31 of California’s 58 counties experiencing an increase in childhood overweight over the five-year period from 2005 to 2010. Want to know how your county measures up?  

The progress being made statewide is encouraging, but there is still work to be done. Implementing policy and system changes to make schools, communities and worksites healthier places for everyone is the right way to go in reversing the childhood obesity trend.

You can access information on this new at http://www.publichealthadvocacy.org/research_patchworkprogress.html.

State Soda Tax Could Be Lifeboat for Fiscally Strapped Counties

For cash-strapped counties struggling to fund vital programs, the state’s proposed soda tax (AB 669-Monning) could be a lifeboat, according to a new county-by-county analysis of how that revenue would be returned to local communities. The proposed penny an ounce tax on sugary beverages would raise an estimated $1.7 billion annually in California. The bulk of those funds – 85 percent or $1.4 billion – would be returned to counties proportional to their population to pay for education and children’s health programs.

“Local communities will be the direct beneficiaries of a soda tax,” explains Dr. Harold Goldstein of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, which conducted the study to better understand how the monies will be allocated. “A soda tax would return about $233 per student in the county to programs aimed at protecting the health and well-being of children. That’s a smart investment.”

Local schools will be the biggest winners of a soda tax, with about 60 percent of local funds going to the classroom and an additional 20 percent to help pay for improvements to physical education and provide nutritious school meals. AB 669 also carves out another 20 percent of the local funds to pay for local children’s programs like youth sports and afterschool programs.

To learn more about the study and see how much money would go to your county, visit the CCPHA website at: www.publichealthadvocacy.org/revenuestudy.html