Obesity among state's low-income teens nearly triple that of more affl...( California's low-income teenagers ha...),Health

California's low-income teenagers have a lot in common: Sugary soda. Fast-food restaurants. Too much television. Not enough exercise. The result: Low-income teenagers are almost three times more likely to be obese than teens from more affluent households, according to new research from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

In California, 21 percent of teenagers living in low-income families are obese, according to the new policy brief, "Low-Income Adolescents Face More Barriers to Healthy Weight." Low-income is defined as having income of less than $19,971 for a family of four or $12,755 for a family of two, according to federal poverty guidelines. In contrast, only 8 percent of teenagers living in families making more than $59,913 (family of four) or $38,265 (family of two) are obese.

California is home to about 480,000 obese adolescents from all income levels. But the high rate of obesity among low-income teens suggests that barriers to healthy behaviors, healthy foods and physical activity not only continue to exist but have grown even larger. Those barriers include high numbers of neighborhood fast-food restaurants and low numbers of parks and other opportunities for physical activity.

"Our neighborhoods are literally making us fat," said Susan H. Babey, one of the policy brief's authors. "We need better strategies and more thoughtful urban planning if we are going to make our towns and cities livable, not just places where we live."

Among other recommendations to combat teen obesity, the policy brief's authors urge city planners to consider zoning ordinances to regulate the number of fast-food restaurants while providing incentives to attract grocery stores and other outlets that stock fresh fruits and vegetables. The Los Angeles City Council recently used data from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research to support such a moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in South Los Angeles. The policy
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