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Cutting edge technology may be the game changer in controversial disease.

There are a lot reasons to head to South Los Angeles and hiking probably isn't at the top of your list. As home to nearly one million people, the region is one of the densest areas, but also the most park poor. There are 92 parks and recreation areas in South Los Angeles totaling about 1,200 acres. That translates to 1.2 acres for every 1,000 people, significantly less than the national standard of 6 acres. Of what's available, here are a handful of accessible areas of significant size that offer a chance to get back to nature and beauty within the city -- with a physical challenge, of course.

While obesity is a problem for Americans in all walks of life, it’s worse when you don’t live near a park, when access to public transportation is limited, when sidewalks are broken and streetlights are few. In fact, a National Institutes of Health study found that just living in a socioeconomically deprived area leads to weight gain and a greater risk of dying at an early age. In stark terms, people in Culver City live an average of eight years longer than people in Jefferson Park, according to Crump. Yet these two communities in the middle of Los Angeles are only a couple of miles apart.

CalOptima is Orange County's system for managing Medi-Cal. With no warning, one county supervisor tried to push through major changes that shifted control of the $1.3 billion program.