According to the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 17 percent of U.S. children between the ages of 2 and 19 are classified as obese. But some areas of the U.S. are more obese than others. Santa Cruz County ranks 29th in the state of California for its levels of childhood obesity, and Watsonville and Pajaro Valley rank 50 percent higher than the rest of the county.
According to the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 17 percent of U.S. children between the ages of 2 and 19 are classified as obese. But some areas of the U.S. are more obese than others. Santa Cruz County ranks 29th in the state of California for its levels of childhood obesity, and Watsonville and Pajaro Valley rank 50 percent higher than the rest of the county.
That’s a lot of unhealthy kids who can look forward to such chronic problems as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. With state and local budgets being slashed, and even programs such as school sports on the chopping block, the county needs some outside help to tackle this problem.
Enter Healthy Kids. Together with Healthy Communities and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, they are providing the county with $360,000 to tackle the problem of childhood obesity. The two key focuses are promoting healthy eating and physical activity. The money will be used to improve the quality of food in local restaurants and bodegas, but also to build bike paths and sponsor physical outdoor activities to get kids exercising again. Healthy Kids wants to change the environment and attitudes by encouraging children to make healthy food choices and to get them to play outside.
Watsonville and Pajaro Valley were among the 41 communities selected to receive the Healthy Kids grant. About 500 communities across the country applied. Read more at Fox 35.
