LA study links child obesity to poverty, lack of parks

The Modesto Bee reports:

Health officials say affluent communities with public parks have the lowest rates of child obesity.

By contrast, the new Los Angeles County Department of Public Health report shows there are more overweight kids in cities with larger numbers of low-income residents, such as Hawthorne, Lawndale, Carson and Gardena.

The county's chief medical officer Dr. Jonathon Fielding says the study shows "poverty is one of the determinants of obesity."

The county used information on obesity rates from the California Department of Education and compared it with unemployment rates, education levels and households incomes.

The report also factored in amounts of park and recreation space.

It used to be poverty meant you couldn't eat and you were thin.I guess the new image of poverty will have to change.