http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/weigheddown/25715 In reporting the story yesterday about Kern being No. 3 for its concentration of fast food and convenience stores, I came across a couple of buzz words. Fast food jungle. Food desert. Considering we live in neither a jungle nor desert &mdash; well, most of us anyway &mdash; I came up with my own: calorie valley. A new study released today has Kern third, among the most populous California counties, with 5.23 times as many fast-food restaurants and convenience stores than supermarkets and produce vendors. The researchers argue that this results higher prevalence of diabetes and obesity. Kern was first for diabetes prevalence, among the counties surveyed, at 10.2 percent. For obesity, it&rsquo;s fourth with 28.2 percent of residents obese. (Read &quot;Study: Kern No. 3 for fast-food, convenience stores&quot; in today's Californian. The study, which was done by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, PolicyLink and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, is attached.) The researchers offer several solutions to counteract the fatty forest, the McTundra. Provide incentives, such as low-interest loans and grants, for retail store development and improvement. Promote smaller-scale markets, like mobile vendors, farmers&rsquo; markets and cooperatives. Ensure that low-income communities can take advantage of upcoming changes to the food offered by WIC. The new changes include offering fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy. Implement zoning changes to limit how many fast-food restaurants can operate in an area. Require restaurants to post nutritional information on menu boards. The county Public Health Department is working to identify communities lacking in healthy food options, said spokesman Daniel Kim. They are also promoting a farmers' market at the department's headquarters on Mt. Vernon Avenue, which will run weekly throughout the summer. This will hopefully start next month. The department is waiting to see what happens with menu labeling bills that are making their way through the legislature. Sen. Alex Padilla's SB 1420 would require restaurants to post nutritional info on menu boards. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill last year. Kern County Assemblywoman Nicole Parra's AB 2572, which is backed by the California Restaurant Association, makes restaurants post information on tray liners, brochures, food case stickers or posters, not menu boards. Kim praised the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program for tackling obesity issues locally. The group will officially unveil a new walking path in Greenfield May 10. What do you think of these solutions? Anything to add to the list? &nbsp; &mdash; Emily Hagedorn, health reporter (661) 395-7510 ehagedorn@bakersfield.com &nbsp; In reporting the story yesterday about Kern being No. 3 for its concentration of fast food and convenience stores, I came across a couple of buzz words. Fast food jungle. Food desert. Considering we live in neither a jungle nor desert &mdash; well, most of us anyway &mdash; I came up with my own: calorie valley. A new study released today has Kern third, among the most populous California counties, with 5.23 times as many fast-food restaurants and convenience stores than supermarkets and produce vendors. The researchers argue that this results higher prevalence of diabetes and obesity. Kern was first for diabetes prevalence, among the counties surveyed, at 10.2 percent. For obesity, it&rsquo;s fourth with 28.2 percent of residents obese. (Read &quot;Study: Kern No. 3 for fast-food, convenience stores&quot; in today's Californian. The study, which was done by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, PolicyLink and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, is attached.) The researchers offer several solutions to counteract the fatty forest, the McTundra. Provide incentives, such as low-interest loans and grants, for retail store development and improvement. Promote smaller-scale markets, like mobile vendors, farmers&rsquo; markets and cooperatives. Ensure that low-income communities can take advantage of upcoming changes to the food offered by WIC. The new changes include offering fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy. Implement zoning changes to limit how many fast-food restaurants can operate in an area. Require restaurants to post nutritional information on menu boards. The county Public Health Department is working to identify communities lacking in healthy food options, said spokesman Daniel Kim. They are also promoting a farmers' market at the department's headquarters on Mt. Vernon Avenue, which will run weekly throughout the summer. This will hopefully start next month. The department is waiting to see what happens with menu labeling bills that are making their way through the legislature. Sen. Alex Padilla's SB 1420 would require restaurants to post nutritional info on menu boards. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill last year. Kern County Assemblywoman Nicole Parra's AB 2572, which is backed by the California Restaurant Association, makes restaurants post information on tray liners, brochures, food case stickers or posters, not menu boards. Kim praised the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program for tackling obesity issues locally. The group will officially unveil a new walking path in Greenfield May 10. What do you think of these solutions? Anything to add to the list? &nbsp; &mdash; Emily Hagedorn, health reporter (661) 395-7510 ehagedorn@bakersfield.com &nbsp; en-us <p>This article is pretty funny since I was just talking to a friend about fast food in Bako.&nbsp; I started watching my calories to lose weight and was surprised to see the crap I was eating.&nbsp; A fraking Route 44 Grape slush is over 717 calories!&nbsp; In and Out Double Double 670 calories (I was eating two of these babies), Filet of Fish 410, Super Size fries 610, $1 cheeseburger 691 (at $1 I was eating 3-4 these puppies), it goes on and on.&nbsp; The only good thing was a taco Bell crunchy taco at 170 calories.&nbsp; What consumers need is a menu that lists the calories!&nbsp; Calories are all online <a href="http://www.chowbaby.com/">http://www.chowbaby.com/</a>, why can't we ask the fast food people to simply put a 3 digit number next to the price?&nbsp; Local politicians&nbsp;please hear us!</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/weigheddown/25715/#c_231125 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/weigheddown/25715/#c_231125 <p>This article is pretty funny since I was just talking to a friend about fast food in Bako.&nbsp; I started watching my calories to lose weight and was surprised to see the crap I was eating.&nbsp; A fraking Route 44 Grape slush is over 717 calories!&nbsp; In and Out Double Double 670 calories (I was eating two of these babies), Filet of Fish 410, Super Size fries 610, $1 cheeseburger 691 (at $1 I was eating 3-4 these puppies), it goes on and on.&nbsp; The only good thing was a taco Bell crunchy taco at 170 calories.&nbsp; What consumers need is a menu that lists the calories!&nbsp; Calories are all online <a href="http://www.chowbaby.com/">http://www.chowbaby.com/</a>, why can't we ask the fast food people to simply put a 3 digit number next to the price?&nbsp; Local politicians&nbsp;please hear us!</p> <p>The nutritional value of some foods is definitely surprising.</p> <p>Harold Goldstein, executive director of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, pointed one out to me that was particularly shocking. <a href="http://www.calorieking.com/foods/calories-in-sandwiches-burgers-deli-favorites-tuna-melt-no-cheese-or-dressing-regular_f-Y2lkPTE1NDA5JmJpZD04MTQmZmlkPTE1ODAyMSZwYXI9.html">Quiznos' regular tuna melt with no cheese or dressing is 930 calories and 66 grams of fat.</a> That's almost half of your recommended daily caloric intake, if you're on a 2,000-calorie diet, and more than 100 percent of your fat for the day.</p> <p>For some other surprises, I suggest reading <a href="http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ehagedorn/16776">&quot;Belly-ssimo!&quot;</a> and <a href="http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ehagedorn/12979">&quot;Reading nutrition labels: How many is too many calories?&quot;</a> on my other B.com blog, <a href="http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ehagedorn">The Pulse,</a> and reading <a href="http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/206880.html">&quot;Eating out healthy?&quot;</a> that ran in <i>The Californian</i> last year.</p> <p><i>&mdash; Emily Hagedorn, health reporter</i></p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/weigheddown/25715/#c_231146 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/weigheddown/25715/#c_231146 <p>The nutritional value of some foods is definitely surprising.</p> <p>Harold Goldstein, executive director of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, pointed one out to me that was particularly shocking. <a href="http://www.calorieking.com/foods/calories-in-sandwiches-burgers-deli-favorites-tuna-melt-no-cheese-or-dressing-regular_f-Y2lkPTE1NDA5JmJpZD04MTQmZmlkPTE1ODAyMSZwYXI9.html">Quiznos' regular tuna melt with no cheese or dressing is 930 calories and 66 grams of fat.</a> That's almost half of your recommended daily caloric intake, if you're on a 2,000-calorie diet, and more than 100 percent of your fat for the day.</p> <p>For some other surprises, I suggest reading <a href="http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ehagedorn/16776">&quot;Belly-ssimo!&quot;</a> and <a href="http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ehagedorn/12979">&quot;Reading nutrition labels: How many is too many calories?&quot;</a> on my other B.com blog, <a href="http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ehagedorn">The Pulse,</a> and reading <a href="http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/206880.html">&quot;Eating out healthy?&quot;</a> that ran in <i>The Californian</i> last year.</p> <p><i>&mdash; Emily Hagedorn, health reporter</i></p> <p>I was shocked at the Sonic slush counts--even went and double-checked 'em.&nbsp; More sugar there than in a coke.&nbsp; Yikes!&nbsp; And me on low-carb!&nbsp; And buying 'em for a diabetic, too...</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/weigheddown/25715/#c_231182 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/weigheddown/25715/#c_231182 <p>I was shocked at the Sonic slush counts--even went and double-checked 'em.&nbsp; More sugar there than in a coke.&nbsp; Yikes!&nbsp; And me on low-carb!&nbsp; And buying 'em for a diabetic, too...</p> <p>Roysan, there's an ad in one of my workout magazines that shows a large order of fries, and above it, it says, &quot;Do You Want 1000 Situps With That?&quot; Lotsa fat calories, which are what make those foods taste so good. Drive by In-N-Out some night; you can smell the fat calories.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/weigheddown/25715/#c_231234 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/weigheddown/25715/#c_231234 <p>Roysan, there's an ad in one of my workout magazines that shows a large order of fries, and above it, it says, &quot;Do You Want 1000 Situps With That?&quot; Lotsa fat calories, which are what make those foods taste so good. Drive by In-N-Out some night; you can smell the fat calories.</p> <p>&nbsp;Think these places serve &quot;healthy&quot; food?</p> <p>Chipotle beef burrito . . . . . <span style="color: #ff0000">1026 calories and 46 grams of fat</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Baja Fresh Baja Burrito&nbsp; with chicken (enchilado style) . . . . . <span style="color: #ff0000">1750 calories and 90 grams of fat</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>P.F. Chang's Lo Mein Pork (lunch portion) . . . . . <span style="color: #ff0000">740 calories and 25 grams of fat</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>El Pollo Loco Chicken Caesar Bowl . . . . . <span style="color: #ff0000">539 calories and 29 grams of fat</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Jamba Juice 24 oz banana berry smoothie . . . . . only 1.5 grams of fat, <span style="color: #ff0000">but 470 calories</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Want to check out some of your favorite places to eat and what they serve, or maybe products that you buy in the grocery store?</p> <p>Go to <a href="http://www.dietfacts.com">www.dietfacts.com</a>.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/weigheddown/25715/#c_231275 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/weigheddown/25715/#c_231275 <p>&nbsp;Think these places serve &quot;healthy&quot; food?</p> <p>Chipotle beef burrito . . . . . <span style="color: #ff0000">1026 calories and 46 grams of fat</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Baja Fresh Baja Burrito&nbsp; with chicken (enchilado style) . . . . . <span style="color: #ff0000">1750 calories and 90 grams of fat</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>P.F. Chang's Lo Mein Pork (lunch portion) . . . . . <span style="color: #ff0000">740 calories and 25 grams of fat</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>El Pollo Loco Chicken Caesar Bowl . . . . . <span style="color: #ff0000">539 calories and 29 grams of fat</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Jamba Juice 24 oz banana berry smoothie . . . . . only 1.5 grams of fat, <span style="color: #ff0000">but 470 calories</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Want to check out some of your favorite places to eat and what they serve, or maybe products that you buy in the grocery store?</p> <p>Go to <a href="http://www.dietfacts.com">www.dietfacts.com</a>.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I knew Chipotle burritos were bad for you, but...wow.&nbsp;</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/weigheddown/25715/#c_231282 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/weigheddown/25715/#c_231282 <p>I knew Chipotle burritos were bad for you, but...wow.&nbsp;</p>