Poll: Obesity, Not Drugs, Biggest Threat to Kids' Health
The latest Field Poll finds wide awareness about unhealthy eating and overweight among California voters
Cafeteria worker Rosaria Tufo hands out plates of fresh vegetables to students at Fairmount Elementary School in San Francisco,
Unhealthy eating is the single biggest health problem California’s kids now face, according to a survey of voters released today. And obesity is considered a serious problem for youth by an overwhelming majority.
In a dramatic shift in public perception, 31 percent of voters surveyed for the latest Field Poll chose bad eating habits as the greatest risk, trumping illegal drug use (17 percent) and violence (13 percent). When the question was asked in two previous surveys, 27 percent named illegal drug use as the chief threat to kids’ health.
Overall, nearly 60 percent of those surveyed said that obesity is a very serious problem for