Jan

6

Childhood Obesity News - Kids' futures imperiled, report says - Los Angeles Daily News

Filed Under Childhood Obesity News | Leave a Comment

A combination of deficient policies and a lack of investment in improving the health and education of children is undermining the economic prosperity of California, according to a report set to be released today by Children Now. The annual report card found that policies and funding priorities that shortchange children are not only increasing the state’s health-care costs and decreasing economic output but jeopardizing its future. As the state faces a record deficit and partisan differences have resulted in a stalemate in Sacramento, the report found that California and its future work force are losing their competitive edge in the global economy. For instance, the report found that California ranks near the bottom on national measures of student achievement, and 20 percent of state students drop out of high school before graduation. And more than 1 million children are projected to be without health insurance, while the rates of childhood obesity and asthma are alarming, according to the report. These include ensuring that every child has affordable health insurance, investing more earlier in a child’s life when the brain is still forming, improving the K-12 school system and providing safe and enriching after-school programs to all children who lack access to them. Read Childhood Obesity

Technorati Tags: , , , , , ,