Children's obesity rates vary greatly in L.A. County

Obesity rates for children in low-income communities with few parks are up to nine times higher than for children in affluent areas with abundant recreational access, according to a new report that analyzes childhood obesity in the cities and communities of Los Angeles County.

The rates ranged from a low of 4% in Manhattan Beach, which has a median income of $100,750 and 5.7 acres of green space per 1,000 people, to 37% in Maywood, where the median income is $30,480 and 0.6 of an acre per 1,000 people is devoted to recreation.

Other studies have linked obesity to income and park access, but the degree of disparity in Los Angeles County "is always surprising and always very disturbing," said Dr. Jonathan E. Fielding, director of the county Department of Public Health, which released the report Friday.

Countywide, almost 23% of public school students in the fifth, seventh and ninth grades were obese in 2005, the report found.

Obesity is associated with diabetes, heart disease, asthma and bone and joint problems.

"This is the biggest epidemic we have in Los Angeles County," Fielding said.

The Institute of Medicine recently called childhood obesity one of the 21st century's most critical public health threats and said it could undo gains made in life expectancy during the previous century. Rates for adults and children have been rising nationwide since the mid-1970s.

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