Alan here again. Have you checked out the video South Central Diet? It’s about Lae Schmidt of South Central Los Angeles, who is looking to buy healthy foods in a part of town over run by fast food chains. Shmidt knows it is unhealthy. “In my community there’s not a lot of healthy food choices,” she says.  The video chronicles her trip on two buses and more than an hour and a half of travel to find healthy fruits and vegetables.

In this section of LA, there is fast food on almost every block and virtually no supermarkets or grocery stores. The biggest problem is that in a low-income part of the city like South Central, fast food is the cheapest and most convenient thing to buy. Highly processed and cheap to make, fast food chains can afford to sell burgers and fries for just a dollar each whereas fruits and vegetables have to be grown and maintained to be sold for much more.

People in this area are left with a choice of eating a single fruit or vegetable from a high priced corner market or having a whole cheeseburger. The prices just don’t compare.

Fast food particularly targets these areas of low-income and minority communities where the only thing people can afford is cheap fast food. As a result, we see very high levels of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease in these low income communities.

To make matters worse, because supermarkets are so scarce people have to go far to obtain healthy food, meaning they have to take time out of their day, which is not possible for most low-income families.

In the Bay Area, there is a similar situation in Daly City. Students from Jefferson High School asked their city council to ban any new fast food restaurants near the school. They claimed their school’s unhealthiness and obesity rate were much too high as a result of all the nearby fast food. As a result, city council agreed to bring new, healthier restaurants, and work with the fast food places to offer better alternatives.  

In the East Menlo Park, East Palo Alto area where I live, I notice a lot of fast food places, not just chains but local vendors, too. This all contributes to the fact that this area has one of the highest obesity rates in San Mateo County. On a positive note, the area now has a farmer’s market, and more grocery stores are opening.

Now ask yourselves, do you live in an area where cheap greasy food is easy to find? Let us know! See what you can do to help out. 

Hey it’s Melissa again. Obesity can have negative effects on your health. Obesity can lead to risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, infertility, cancer, joint problems and back pain.

Small changes in our lives can make a huge difference. I used to weigh around 160 pounds, but by changing my eating habits and doing a bit more physical activity, I was able to lose around 20 pounds in just three months. Some things that I changed were eating more fruits and vegetables throughout the day, and decreasing the portion sizes that I would eat each day. I also became a bit more active than before. Now I spend around 30 minutes running on a treadmill, just so that I can keep myself in shape. At first these changes made me feel that I would never be able to reach my goal of losing weight but after I succeeded I felt happy and confident in myself.

Changing does not mean changing every little habit that you have, but taking small steps to achieve your goal.

People nowadays find it easier to go to the local fast food place or local restaurant to eat than staying at home and cooking, without realizing that it can be a factor that contributes to an increase in their weight. If people are more careful in watching what they eat, they would not have to fear that they may develop health problems and obesity. By eating more fruits and vegetables, reducing portion sizes, and watching their calories, they can make a difference in their daily lives.

So, will you change youreating habits or will you wait?

Hi everyone, Alan here with some tips on how to eat and drink healthy over the summer. I know in these hot summer months it can be hard to stay cool, but you have to resist opening a can of sugar filled soda. It seems easier and better to just buy a can of soda. It’s sweet, cold and cheap, but you really shouldn't drink it – the sugar will just make you thirstier.

I spend a lot of time outside in the sun shooting hoops and playing soccer and when I get too hot there's nothing better than an ice cold glass of water. It's healthier, tastes great and it'll quench your thirst much better than a can of soda.

Another problem with trying to stay healthy over summer is satisfying your hunger without consuming too much fat or too many calories. After a long day in the sun, a burger and fries with a milkshake on the side sounds great, doesn't it?

Well yes, it may sound good, but this meal is horrendously unhealthy. According to the American Heart Association, this meal contains roughly 1700 calories and 70 grams of fat! That's almost a day’s worth of calories, and a lot of fat in just one meal that contains little nutritional value.

Instead of going out at all, eat at home. It’s cheaper and much healthier. As long as you prepare the right kind of meal, you can’t go wrong. Don’t have any ideas? Try these cool recipes, I’ll let you know how they are in my next blog. Get outside, have fun and have a healthy summer.