Special School Helps Teen Combat Childhood Obesity

REEDLEY, CA - OCTOBER 20: Seventeen year-old Marissa Hamilton pets a horse at Wellspring Academy October 20, 2009 in Reedley, California. Struggling with her weight, Hamilton enrolled at the Wellspring Academy, a special school that helps teens and college level students lose weight along with academic courses. When Marissa first started her semester at Wellspring she weighed in at 340 pounds and has since dropped over 40 pounds of weight in the first two months of the program. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 percent of children in the US ages 6-19 years are overweight or obese, three times the amount since 1980. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)