Wide obesity gap between affluent city, lower-income one in L.A. County - latimes.com: ...Obesity among the young is starting to level off in California and around the nation. But stark disparities persist, posing vexing obstacles to further change.
In Los Angeles County alone, the obesity epidemic costs about $12 billion a year for healthcare and in lost productivity, according to a 2006 report by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy.
The challenges are plain at the Bell Gardens Community Health Clinic, where physician Jacqueline Lopez, deals with the consequences: diabetes and heart disease. She delicately coaches families to pick healthful foods and break through cultural barriers. Many Latino parents, she said, simply don't recognize the risks of their children being overweight.
