Just Updated: Kids' Weight Data for Your Community

Children’s Weight: Improving or Declining? View this slideshow to see the data.

This week, kidsdata.org brings attention to children’s weight in California, a follow-up to last month’s focus on kids’ fitness results. In California, the percentage of 5th and 7th graders at a healthy weight (69% for both in 2010) has held fairly steady over the past decade, while the percentage of 9th graders at a healthy weight improved slightly, from 65% in 2002 to 71% in 2010.

Highlights from the New Weight Data

Slideshow:

• Children's Weight in California: A Summary of Recent Data

Blog Posts:

• Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Children’s Weight Persist
• New Measure of Children’s Weight – and More Related Data on the Way
  

Reminder - Webinar Tomorrow:

• Sign Up Now: How to Incorporate the Latest Fitness and Weight Data from Kidsdata.org into Your Work
  

Regional/Local Breakdowns

Following are local breakdowns for the state’s most populous regions. See data for other regions (you can customize your regions by using the “choose counties and school districts” box).

Los Angeles:
About two out of every three Los Angeles County 5th, 7th, and 9th graders are at a healthy weight, according to ’10 data, which is similar to previous years. Percentages of students at a healthy weight vary greatly by school district, ranging from less than 60% to more than 90%.
County and School District Data

Other Southern California Counties:
The percentages of students at a healthy weight vary greatly across Southern California. For example, the percentages of 5th, 7th, and 9th graders at a healthy weight generally fall below the state averages in the most inland Southern California counties (i.e., San Bernardino, Imperial, etc.), but reach or exceed the state averages in most coastal counties (i.e., San Diego, Orange, Ventura, etc.).

School District Data, by County:
Imperial | Orange | Riverside | San Bernardino | San Diego | Santa Barbara | Ventura

Central Valley:
5th, 7th, and 9th graders in the Central Valley generally have among the lowest percentages statewide of students at a healthy weight. In most Central Valley counties, these figures fall below the statewide average.

School District Data, by County:
Fresno | Kern | Kings | Madera | Mariposa | Merced | San Benito | San Joaquin | Stanislaus | Tulare

Bay Area:
Most Bay Area counties fare well compared to the state on this measure of children’s weight. In many Bay Area counties, 70% or more of 5th, 7th, and 9th graders are at a healthy weight, according to the ’10 data.

School District Data, by County:
Alameda | Contra Costa | Marin | Napa | San Francisco | San Mateo | Santa Clara | Santa Cruz | Solano | Sonoma

Sacramento:
The percentages of Sacramento County 5th, 7th, and 9th graders at a healthy weight (about 70%, depending on the grade) were slightly higher than the state as a whole in ’10.
County and School District Data

Perspective on These Data

• Policy Implications: Weight and Fitness
• Why This Topic is Important
• Related Research & Resources

Snapshot of Related Legislation

• The Federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (now law)
• AB 2084 (Brownley) – Healthy Beverages in Child Care (now law)
• SB 1413 (Leno) - Promoting Water Consumption in Schools (now law)
• AB 581 (Perez) - Increasing Access to Healthy and Nutritious Foods (under consideration)
• AB 839 (Brownley) – Putting Breakfast First (under consideration)

Tools to Help Make Your Case for Kids in California

As a foundation devoted to raising the visibility of issues facing children in California, we want to connect you to the data and information you need:

Sign up for e-alerts to receive automatic e-mails when data you care about are updated.

Get answers to your questions about children's data by posting on our Facebook page or on our blog page devoted to Q&A.

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