Preliminary Analysis from a Participatory Health Needs Assessment on the Accessibility to Green Space and Its Potential Effects on Child Obesity in Watts, California
Abstract
The child obesity rate is greater in low-income communities
of color in South Los Angeles than in White, affluent
communities in West Los Angeles, California. In June 2018,
the Harbor-UCLA Summer Urban Health Fellowship
conducted a health needs assessment within households in
Watts, California, a neighborhood in South Los Angeles.
This study focuses on access to green space, safety, and
fast food consumption as factors that may be associated
with disproportionate local child obesity rates. Preliminary
data suggests that community-perceived safety, poverty,
and fast food consumption could be risk factors. Our
findings provide opportunities for local policy development
centered on targeting risk factors in Watts.