Yuba, Sutter counties losing fight against fat

San Francisco County ranks as the slimmest statistically in the state — while Yuba and Sutter are near the top in California for obesity rates, says a UCLA study that links lower income and education levels with obesity.

Yuba and Sutter have an estimated 33,000 obese residents, nearly one-third of their combined adult populations, while Nevada County's rate is 14 percent, according to the study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

Susan Babey, one of the authors of the study that also looks at diabetes rates, said nicer neighborhoods tend to provide more alternatives to fast food as well as allowing residents other lifestyle choices.

"It probably isn't that having more money per se makes you healthier," Babey said.

Dr. Robert K. Ross, president of The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation which supported the study, said, "It is a travesty that beer and Flaming Hot Cheetos are more readily available than an apple in low-income communities across the state."

Yuba's obesity rate is 30 percent and Sutter's is 28 percent, says the study, "Obesity and Diabetes: Two Growing Epidemics in California."

The statewide adult average is 22 percent.

People who have a body mass index of 30 or more are generally considered obese. That number is calculated from a person's weight and height.

Marysville resident Vera Rivinius, 26, has done her part to drive down Yuba County's rate.

She lost 43 pounds from May 15 to Aug. 7 and was the "Biggest Loser" at the Northside Fitness club in Yuba City. Rivinius credits instruction by the club trainers and their information about nutrition as helping her succeed.

"Before I was saying, 'I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow,'" she said of losing weight. "This is the best thing I've done for myself."

April Helm, owner of Northside Fitness, said precisely what motivates people to improve their health is hard to determine, but those who succeed display a desire and drive.

Busy lives and the availability of fast-food outlets contribute to the obesity problem, Helm noted. But, she added, "We can find time to actually take care of ourselves."

Amerjit Bhattal, director of the Sutter County Health Department, said of the obesity rate here that an earlier, separate study also found a lot of smokers in the area.

"There's just a lot more education needed," Bhattal said of lifestyle-related issues.

Of San Francisco's statewide low obesity ranking of 11 percent, she said: "When you go into San Francisco, you see a lot of people walking."

Galen El-Askari, Health & Wellness Program manager for the Nevada County Health Department, said "it's hard to know why" her county has a sharply lower obesity rates than Yuba County.

Conclusive statistics for rural counties in California are difficult because of their small populations, she said.

"We have pockets of poverty in Nevada County that get masked," El-Askari said of how the wealth of some areas can skew statistics.

Babey said fast food-free zones around schools are an example of measures that could help combat obesity.

"No one has done that yet," she added.

Schools districts, including Marysville Joint Unified and Yuba City Unified, feature fruits and vegetables in meals as part of an effort to improve student nutrition.

Steve Mejia, an outreach consultant at Johnson Park Elementary School in Olivehurst, stood at a salad bar Wednesday as students went through the lunch line.

"Most of this will be gone by the end of lunch," Mejia said of the produce.

"We'll have a little bit of the broccoli left," he added.

CONTACT Ryan McCarthy at 749-4707 or rmccarthy@appealdemocrat.com .