Study: Gilroy Has the Heaviest Kids of 11 County Cities

A new study analyzing rates of overweight and obese youth shows that Gilroy kids are among the heaviest in the entire state of California, information that has long-term impacts on local health services.

In Gilroy, 43.6 percent of children are overweight or obese, compared to 15.4 percent in Los Gatos and 38 percent statewide.

Gilroy has more overweight kids than the 10 other Santa Clara County cities analyzed in the study.

• Gilroy (43.6 percent)
• Santa Clara (37.5 percent)
• San Jose (36 percent)
• Milpitas (33.3 percent)
• Sunnyvale (31 percent)
• Morgan Hill (30.3 percent)
• Campbell (30.1 percent)
• Cupertino (18.4 percent)
• Palo Alto (18.4 percent)
• Saratoga (18.2 percent)
• Los Gatos (15.4 percent)

Data for the study, conducted by UCLA researchers, was collected in 2010 through the California Department of Education’s 2010 Physical Fitness Tests. The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research examined geographical variation in overweight and obesity among 5th, 7th, and 9th grade school children in the state.

Among children, overweight is defined as having a BMI between the 85th and 95th percentile on the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
sex-specific BMI-for-age growth charts, while obesity is defined as having a BMI above the 95th percentile, the study states.

"Children who are overweight or obese often grow up to be obese as adults," the study states.

That leads to other health problems: diabetes, heart disease, stroke, premature death and more, according to the study.

Researchers found that 80 percent of children with type-2 diabetes are overweight. Type-2 diabetes develops from unhealthy diets, lack of exercise and obesity, and the disease is also more prevalent among Latinos.

The study made several recommendations centered around diet and exercise, such as limiting kids' access to sugary, high fat and high cholesterol foods. Requiring physical education classes and making school recreational facilities available after school and on weekends were other suggestions.

: should families deal with childhood obesity or is it a societal responsibility?

Regardless of who's at fault, efforts have been made on these fronts.

, for example, is a state food assistance program administered through Second Harvest Food Bank and other local agencies that provides vouchers to help families purchase healthy food.

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