Support for LAist comes from
Become a sponsor
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Donate
Stay Connected

LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network.

Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen
Donate
Podcasts Take Two
Study: Baldwin Park significantly reduces childhood obesity rate
solid orange rectangular banner
()
Take Two Logo
Jul 10, 2013
Listen • 9:21
Study: Baldwin Park significantly reduces childhood obesity rate
Nearly one-third of American children and teens are overweight or obese, but new research shows that that figure might be starting to drop.
REEDLEY, CA - OCTOBER 21: Seventeen year-old Marissa Hamilton stands on a scale during her weekly weigh-in at the Wellspring Academy October 21, 2009 in Reedley, California. Struggling with her weight, seventeen year-old Marissa Hamilton enrolled at the Wellspring Academy, a special school that helps teens and college level students lose weight along with academic courses. When Marissa first started her semester at Wellspring she weighed in at 340 pounds and has since dropped over 40 pounds of weight in the first two months of the program. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 percent of children in the US ages 6-19 years are overweight or obese, three times the amount since 1980. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Marissa Hamilton
Seventeen year-old Marissa Hamilton stands on a scale during her weekly weigh-in at the Wellspring Academy October 21, 2009 in Reedley, California.
(
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
)

Nearly one-third of American children and teens are overweight or obese, but new research shows that that figure might be starting to drop.

Nearly one-third of American children and teens are overweight or obese, but new research shows that that figure might be starting to drop. 

The state of California as a whole saw a modest decline in childhood obesity rates of about 1 percent, and one city in L.A. is making a lot more progress.  Rosa Soto is the Southern California Director for the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, which did the research for the study.