Santa Paula Community

Dr. Heather Nichols works with Castañeda at the Santa Paula Clinic and helped found Si Se Puede, a free six-week clinic for obese kids and their families. About half of the kids she saw at the medical clinic were overweight, many developing diabetes in elementary school.

Santa Paula is about 70 percent Latino. Nichols notes its main streets are lined with fast food restaurants and says it is not a fitness-friendly town.

"The town is not very walkable," she said. "I walk to work once or twice a week and I find it difficult myself."

Santa Paula Community Services Director Brian Yanez disagreed with Nichols' assessment of the city's walkability but agreed the city is in need of more green spaces.

"We're in desperate need of park space, open space," he said.

In comparison, Westlake Village is surrounded with open space, horse trails and bike trails, including the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation area. Less than 5 percent of that city's population is Latino.

Healthy food vs. cultural cuisine

Her struggle with the scale was no mystery to Rose Morales.