FACT: Childhood obesity is fairly contagious; if you've got an obese friend, you are more likely to be obese.

• 1 out of 5 teens has unhealthy cholesterol levels (CDC)
• 1/3 of teens are sufficiently overweight to qualify for cholesterol screening.
• The heritability quotient for obesity is .65, which means that obese people tend to produce obese children; whether this is a consequence of genetics, epigenetic factors, pre-natal nutrition -- it's not clear.
• As kids and adults, obese people tend to cluster with obese people.

FACT: At least 60% of Latinos are overweight.

• The Latino population should be concerned about obesity: 55% of latinos are obese.
• Latinos ranked second highest risk for obesity and obesity-health related problems such as diabetes, stroke, cardiovascular diseases, blindness, etc.
• More than 60 percent of Hispanic-Americans will develop obesity and type 2 diabetes, according to the CDC.
• The rate of obesity has doubled among Hispanic youth in the last decade, and Hispanic teenagers are twice as likely as their white counterparts to be overweight.
• Hispanic children 15 years old or younger rank highest among the obese group; this stems from the myth that thicker children are healthier. That is a myth that can have serious consequences.
• Studies show that obese children are four times as likely to suffer from depression that their classmates of normal weight. 

FACT:In the year 2000, 6 million kids are seriously overweight. In 2005, 9 million kids are overweight.

• In sonoma county, 43-45% of low-income 5-20 yrs old children are overweight or at risk of overweight.
• According to the CDC, 75-83% of these children will remain overweight as adults with health risks.
• The older the overweight child is, the more likely s/he will continue to be overweight as an adult.
• 8 out of 10 overweight teens will continue to be overweight as adults.

FACT: You CAN change your lifestyle!

• Get enough physical activity! This means engaging in moderate exercise or outdoors activity for at least 30 minutes each day for 4-5 days/week. Go hiking! Go biking! Work in the yard! Walk to school and around your neighborhood. Even doing Wii fit can get your heart pumping and muscles jumping.
• Eating more fruits and vegetables, as well as nuts and whole grains. See how much you should eat by going here for more information.
• Cutting the amount of fast food in your diet as well as other fatty, sugary food and snacks.
• Don't rely on fad diets like the South Beach or the Atkins Diet. Diets should consist of healthy and balanced food groups with more fruits and vegetables and limiting the intake of fat and sugars. Moreover,your "diet" should be kept ideally for life because it's a change in lifestyle, not a change in weight.