San Diego County may be turning the tide on childhood obesity. A new report reveals the percentage of overweight and obese kids fell between 2005 and 2010. Yet still more than one-third of them are seriously overweight.
The report from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research tracks the change in childhood obesity in all 58 counties. San Diego County saw a 3.7 percent drop to 34.5 percent over the five-year period.
UCLA Senior Research Scientist Susan Babey said San Diego had the biggest decline in Southern California.
"It's definitely an encouraging sign that your rates in San Diego have gone down," Babey said. "But, the fact that more than a third of the kids in San Diego are still overweight or obese is definitely a cause for concern."
The situation is worse in neighboring Imperial County, where nearly 47 percent of children are either overweight or obese. That's the highest rate in California.
Statewide, 38 percent of children are overweight or obese. That rate is nearly three times higher than it was 30 years ago.
