WSA_Youth and Family Master Plan Phase I - September 2009

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places and structured activities, so that young people can maintain a "healthy balance between structured, supervised activities and unstructured time." In addition to stimulating pro-social development in these youth, building on both safe places and structured programming help battle two increasing community concerns: (1) the obesity epidemic and (2}youth violence (Northridge, 2004). Obesity epidemic Childhood obesity has become one of, if not the biggest, health concern facing the nation. Approximately one-third of all children and adolescents are overweight or obese (MMWR, 2006). The Orange County Health Needs Assessment found that 34.9% of Santa Ana children were overweight or at risk for being overweight (85t"-94t" percentile BMI) (OCHNA, 2005). In the same study, 70-79.5% percent of adults living in Santa Ana were found to be overweight or obese. Furthermore, the Youth Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System, surveys youth ages 10-24 years old nationwide, reports that in 2006, on average 24.9% of students do not participate in recommended physical activity levels. According to data from the 2006-2007 California Physical Fitness Test, more 5t" and 7t"grade students in Santa Ana Unified School District (40%) are overweight/obese compared to students in Orange County (29%}and California (32%). Fewer 5t"and 7t"grade students in SAUSD (22% and 29% respectively} met 6 of 6 physical fitness standards compared to students in Orange County (33% and 41 %) and in California (27% and 31 %). Multiple factors impact a person's ability to maintain a healthy weight and many of these health determinants are social (Marmot et. al., 1999). In particular, safe places to recreate are a key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Research shows that youth need safe, open spaces to play, at least 60 minutes a day, to keep healthy. Some research even suggests that maintaining healthy levels of physical activity maybe even more important than carrying excess weight for prolonging and increasing quality of life (Active Living by Design, 2004). Youth violence Juvenile arrests for violent crimes in California significantly declined by 30% from 1994-2003 (California Department of Justice, 2004).9 However, "...even with the substantial decline in child gun deaths, in 2002 nearly 1000 young Californians between the ages of 12 and 24 lost their lives to gunfire." (Commonwealth, 2005). The gang presence in Santa Ana is relatively large considering the city is only 27 square miles. The California Department of Justice, Office of Attorney General's Criminal Justice Statistical Center tracks the percentage of misdemeanor and felony arrests that are committed by juveniles and adults. This provides us with a sense of what percent of crimes in Santa Ana are committed by youth. For 2006, the results are as follows; 16.6% of total Santa Ana felonies committed by juveniles 16.2% of total Santa Ana misdemeanors committed by juveniles In targeting obesity prevention and youth violence, the literature on safe places, joint use and sports programming provide supporting evidence for ways that these three factors can have a positive impact on healthy and safe youth development. 9Juvenile (used in the crime reporting literature) is defined as 17 years of age and younger. For the purposes of this report, it is used almost interchangeably with youth, which we define as 13-18 years of age (USDOJ, 2009).