More than 20 percent of Santa Clara County children ages 5­19 are overweight, an alarming number are living below the poverty line and Hispanic children are worse off than others, according to a new report released March 3.

The "Santa Clara County Children's Report: Key Indicators of Well Being 2005" was compiled from the results of a survey of more than 25,000 county public school students.

"The purpose of this 2005 children's report is to provide a community-wide perspective on how children are fairing," Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz Kniss said. "This is a very exciting report, but it's also a very sobering report."

The three main conclusions of the report, regarding children in poverty, Hispanic children and obesity, have all been recognized as problems for some time.

"This is not new information," Supervisor Blanca Alvarado said.

Nine percent of all Santa Clara County children--approximately 38,000 or equivalent to the population of Campbell-- currently live below the poverty line. Hispanic children account for more than half of those despite being only one-third of the county's children, according to the report.

"It should be of great concern to us all that this valley is marked by a deep divide that separates the haves and have-nots," Alvarado said.

The report says that in 2003 more than one in five county children ages 5­19 were obese, mostly due to "large portion sizes, eating too much fast food, drinking too many high-sugar drinks, not having access to healthy food and not enough physical activity such as walking, biking, skating or even common housework," according to Santa Clara County Public Health Director Guadalupe Olivas.

Kniss said the board of supervisors and other community leaders would use the information in the report in making policy decisions during the coming year.

"I am sounding a call to everyone in our community to get involved in creating viable alternatives and solutions to address these issues," Kniss said.

Rules on domestic partners clarified

Unanimous in its understanding of the phrase "domestic partners," the San Jose City Council voted March 1 to formally acknowledge that domestic partners of city employees have standing equal to spouses in terms of city benefits.

A year ago the city council voted to extend benefits to city employees in same-sex marriages considered legal in other jurisdictions. Last week's vote clarifies that domestic partnerships also qualify for those benefits.

The California Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act, which went into effect Jan. 1 of this year, extends the same rights to domestic partners as to spouses in regards to benefits, protection from discrimination and legal matters such as child custody.