Why Is This Important?
A child’s health can impact his or her physical and emotional development. It can also impact their education through missed school days or an inability to concentrate during class. Obese or overweight children are at risk of developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, and Type 2 diabetes, among other serious physical problems. Immunizations protect children against serious and potentially fatal diseases and can prevent the spread of communicable diseases. Health insurance, either public or private, provides access to health care.
What is a Sustainable State?
A sustainable state is one where all children are healthy and have access to affordable health care.
How Are We Doing?
Physical fitness
Administered to students in grades five, seven, and nine, the California Physical Fitness Test measures six areas of fitness: upper body strength, flexibility, aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength, and trunk extensor
strength.
- During the 2006-07 school year, the percentage of students in the county meeting all six fitness standards was higher than any other period this decade for each grade level.
Data source: California Department of Education
- Among all California students, 27 percent of fifth graders, 31 percent of seventh graders, and 30 percent of ninth graders met all six standards.
Immunizations
In 2006, 79 percent of children in the county enrolled in kindergarten had received all of their required immunizations by the age of two, roughly the same percentage as the state as a whole (78 percent). This was 4 percent less than the rate in 2004.
Health insurance
In 2005, 99 percent of children in the county were covered by some form of health insurance and 83 percent had dental insurance.
- Employer-based health insurance covered 73 percent of children. Medi-Cal or California’s Healthy Families program provided coverage for another 17 percent. The other 10 percent were covered by private insurance or some other public health insurance.
- At the state level, employer-based health insurance covered 53 percent of children with Medi-Cal or the Healthy Families program covering 34 percent.
Data source: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Teen Health Spa and Shapedown
The Teen Health Spa is a program for young women ages 12-16 that addresses nutrition, exercise, body image, self-esteem, and other weight-related issues. Shapedown is a free, eight-week family-based weight management support program for children, teens, and their parents. Both programs are offered by the San Mateo County Health Department’s Nutrition Services program.
See Appendix page 72, CLICK HERE. Researchers: Mary Hill and Gar Yeung