The percentage of overweight or obese girls living in San Bernardino County has almost doubled in the last decade, according to a UCLA study.
The findings by the university's Center for Health Policy Research did not surprise local physical education teachers. They blame the increase on youths' sedentary lifestyle, which is often instigated by prevalence of video games and lack of opportunity or motivation to play outside.
"Some of my students are straight lazy," said Brigitte Hughes, a P.E. teacher at Rancho Cucamonga High School. "The only thing I can do to make them participate is to hold their grade against them.
"It's the age. They don't get it that what they do to their bodies now will reflect on them in the future."
According to CHPR's California Health Interview Survey, in 2001, 35 percent of girls ages 16 to 23 were obese or overweight, and 34.3 percent of boys.
In 2009, the figures for girls jumped to 64.1 percent, but dropped to 30.7 percent for boys.
"One possible explanation is that girls get less physical activity than boys," said Susan Babey, UCLA's research scientist.
The researchers compiled their findings by looking at youth's Body Mass Index, which is commonly used to classify obesity among adults and children.
BMI is measured by dividing one's weight in pounds by his or her height in inches squared. That number is then multiplied by 703.
Teens with BMI values at or above the 95th percentile of the gender-specific growth charts are categorized as obese, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
State figures also show an increase in BMI values for both genders since 2001.
However, unlike San Bernardino County, 37 percent of boys across the state were overweight or obese - 8 percent ahead of girls.
A similar gender trend is repeated in the San Gabriel Valley region, which included statistics for the cities of Pomona and Claremont - in 2009, 29.4 percent of boys ages 16 to 23 were overweight or obese and 22.9 percent of girls.
Rene Rasmussen shares the office with Hughes at Rancho Cucamonga High. She's been teaching since 1978.
"A lot of kids are putting on the weight in their midsection," Rasmussen said. "Back when I was in high school, that was unheard of. It may become a medical nightmare for all of us."
Roger Sharp has been teaching P.E. for 30 years. As a kid, no one had to tell him to go outside to play.
"When I was in high school, we had land around our house, we played football," Sharp said. "I rode my bike to Ontario Airport to watch the planes take off. But you can't do that stuff anymore.
"Our social life has changed. Computer and video games have put kids inside the house. And the way the houses are built, right next to each other, they don't have backyards to play in. Kids are playing video games. They are not outside creating games."
Sharp said parents need to "take charge and say `turn it off and lets all play outside.' But a lot of parents are not doing that."
Hughes agreed, stating that parents are often not in shape themselves.
"Parents need to get involved in physical activity and make it a family affair. It's a good way to improve health and have family bonding time."
Having to take P.E. classes for just two years in high school is not helping either, Hughes said. Most kids do not take it as an elective after their sophomore year.
"When you exclude the time they need to change and get ready, they have P.E. for just about half an hour a day, and for some kids that's the only exercise they get," Hughes said. "They leave our class and then when we see them couple years later, I can't believe how many of them have gotten bigger, enough so that you notice it."
"I'd like to see them make the P.E. a four-year requirement," added Hughes' colleague Richard Presto while helping out his students in the weight room. "But financially it's not possible."
Because of budgetary constraints, many schools are facing pressure to cut physical education while trying to keeping their test scores up, Babey said.
"Potentially it can backfire, but a lot of schools don't have a choice," she said. "They don't have leadership and support from state government to prioritize P.E."
Working with what he does have, Sharp's goal is to introduce kids to physical activities they may like to continue doing as adults, so they can lead healthy lifestyles when they leave high school.
"P.E. still has the old stigma, that it consists of just push-ups and running," he said. "But when you have a good P.E. teacher, students are going to have fun and gain confidence."
Motivating teens to participate is not an easy task.
"In college they told us `You'll have to be better than the movie stars if you want to engage them,' and they were kind of right.
"Not everyone is athletically inclined. But it comes down to this: do you teach them a game or just chuck a ball out and say go play?"
But physical education is more like piece of a puzzle, not a whole picture, Babey said. For kids who have graduated from high school, its not even an influence.
"People in general are eating more calories than we used to," Babey said. "Our food is high in sugar and fat. There has been also an increase in soda consumption."
In recent years, schools across the state have changed their beverage policies, essentially banning sodas from their vending machines.
"The policies have not been in place long enough for us to notice any impact yet," she said.
Families' busy lifestyles are also contributing to the problem, Sharp said.
"Most moms have to work, and cook and take the kids to soccer practice. Then it becomes easier to stop by and pick up fast food instead of eating a nutritious meal," he said.
Obesity is also a big risk factor for developing Type 2 diabetes, Babey said.