LaBonge: City parks can help fight obesity and diabetes

Two city parks are being outfitted with new outdoor exercise equipment thanks to Councilmember Tom LaBonge. To combat adolescent and adult obesity, the Councilmember directed the Los Angeles Dept. of Recreation and Parks to install the equipment where feasible and the first two fitness areas are scheduled to be installed at Glassell and Pan Pacific Parks by early 2009.
     In the past 30 years, the rate of adolescent obesity has doubled in Los Angeles. As a result, more children are suffering from diseases traditionally seen in adults, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol. Nearly 23 percent of children ages 9-13 do not engage in any free-time physical activity during the school day and nearly 60 percent do not participate in any kind of organized sports or physical activity program outside of school.
     “Something is wrong that children aren’t running around and exercising outside,” said LaBonge, chair of the Council’s Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Committee. “We need to give children and adults alike the chance to come to our parks, exercise and have fun.”
     Councilmember LaBonge’s motion on outdoor fitness areas was approved by the full City Council in March. Since then, department officials have identified 63 parks that have three necessary criteria for fitness areas: available space for equipment; park users of all ages and available funding to purchase the equipment, according to Robert Oyakawa, a landscape architect with the department.
     The Glassell Park fitness area will be funded with Quimby fees, which are collected from the developers of nearby condominium projects. The Pan Pacific Park project is being financed through a private donation in partnership with the Trust for Public Land, a non-profit organization.