The California Health Report TV – Episode 5 from California Health Report on Vimeo.

Hosted by Editor-in-Chief, Daniel Weintraub, California Health Report TV brings you stories from around the state about people improving their lives and the conditions of their communities.

First we go to Life Long Medical Care in Berkeley, where we met Ana Maria Negrete five weeks from the due date of her first child. Negrete is a part of new model for pre-natal care called Centering Pregnancy — where expectant mothers participate in group checkups which provide support, education and health assessment. Studies show that this type of pre-natal care leads to better birth outcomes for both mother and child.

Then we go to San Diego — where about 18 hundred refugees from Burma live – many of whom are ethnic minorities from Karen villages. The Karen and other groups have fought for autonomy from the Burmese government for 65 years. Here in the United States it’s another battle – mental health professionals say language barriers compound feelings of depression and anxiety in refugees, especially Asian women. Their family structures are challenged as parents turn to their English-speaking kids to navigate life here. But a San Diego program is pulling Karen women out of isolation, by enlisting them as weaving instructors.

Next we go to the agriculturally rich area of Watsonville — where more than 49 percent of children living there are obese or overweight. In the past 30 years childhood obesity has more than doubled in the US. And kids who are obese are likely to become adults who are obese with a greater risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and several types of cancer. But the Jovenes Sanos organization is trying to turn that around with their youth advocacy and leadership program.

Finally California Health Report Editor-in-Chief, Daniel Weintraub sits down in the studio with Jeanie Ward-Waller, California Policy Director for the Safe Routes to School National Partnership to talk about her work to make it easier for kids to walk or bike home from school.