By partnering with teens, a reporter seeking a deeper understanding of health in local communities finds some of the best fixers around.
Discrimination and segregation in America are nothing new. Measuring their effects on health, however, is.
"What I heard, over and over again, were stories of physical violence in juvenile residential programs."
When Montana’s governor signed a law creating a suicide review team in May 2013, he called reporter Cindy Uken personally to tell her he signed it. For the last year, she's been reporting on the state's high suicide rates and the possible ways to change those trends.
Donovan Patterson was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when he was 14 years old. The only time the thought of beind stuck with diabetes for the rest of his life leaves his mind is when he's playing music.
Benji was 16 years old and 270 pounds when he decided he needed to loose weight if he wanted to be a firefighter when he grew up.
Since then, with the encouragement of his community, he has been able to run off 100 pounds.
Three-part series on obesity in Merced County
Part 1: Merced's growing problem of obesity in life's stages
Part 2: Teens have easy access to unhealthy foods
Part 3: From binge eating to getting fit
