>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. kristen: hi there. i am kristen sze. you are watching "getting answers," on abc 7 abt ouissues iormptant to eth bay ar, eaand we g aetnswers for you inea rl-time. today, we have ab7 c news corresndpoent dr. patel to discuss adverse effects on children and the elder olyf covid-19, and alsore baking down controrsvefoy r managing chdhiloodbe osity, including wehtig loss surge.ry us, mr.rr ielevant,ro bck rdy, bres akall kinds of rerdcos. it was aingast the stteale ahawks. will thein ners be rdyea for the

ldwicard gambee tween the cowboys and the buccaneers? first, we are falinly getting so mmeuch-need sedunshine. let's take a look outside, shall we? hweave beenai wting for sunsnehi, there we g lo,ooking at theay b, rain cinomg down. joining us to talk about the week ahe aadnd the irencdible amount of water and snow we've gotten frothm e latesrot und of stormss iabc 7 weaerth ancho spenr cechristian. another pernso w ihos great to wa fitor. spencer:sn i't isth exciting? wai s about stotart blduiing an k,ar but i won't haveo. t iskrten: [uglahs] spenr:ce here ilis ve doppl 7er the storm is pretty chmu gone. you can see therere a some ttlile specks of showers is still liernging maiy nlover the higher elevatison down arndou e thsummit, ntsaa cruz, lia ttle

rther south, but basically, atth storm for us a flood watch tomorroevw ening for all of the yba area. the ground are so saturat,ed so flooding is stilpol ssible enve though it isot n rainingig rht w. using the forectas animationo t showou y how much wean c expect the next coup olef days can arting at 4:00hi ts afternoon, it is dry,ki sesre ale car. eaclr skies maiynl overnig ahtnd sunnyay d tomorrow. there is one light srmto coming in wneedsday nhtig, probably moving intohe tay b area sometime between 7:00 p.m.nd a :0100 p.m. it is going tswo ing throhug thraer quickly,ut b itil wl oduce someai rnfall. we areal tking abo uutnder 20/1 ofn anc ih inom se places like safrn ancisco danak oland, but nerallynd uer halfn ainch of in is exctpeed from isth storm. right now, it ists ill pretty guy stout the.re

hweave wind gust up to 40 miles anou hr in oakla,nd nearly 20 lemis an houinr haywo,odo sit fes elpretty bezrey. okloing out ovesar n francis,co you canee s h sowunny it is, a few linginerg clouds, tempaterures rig nhtow ithn e mid 50's, vtuirally a tllhese calotions, s fanrancisco, oakland, poal alto, hf almoon bay. we've got rhtig skies atht e ldgoen gate. a f lewefver raindrop osn the lt efside of the carame lens. tempaterures in eth m 5id0's right wnot asanta rosa, novato. as wloe ok at emevirylle right no aw,nd blue s, kymostly carle, illy oveigrnht, sun anynd dry torrmoow, dry, suynn days all e way thugroh the is gointog be chilly tonit,gh overnig uhtnder the clear iesks, tempeturares drop a bitow ler. me of t ihenland ars,ea look

for low to mid 30's in the north bay. mid to upper 30's and oerth inndla spots. tomorr, owa bright, sunny day, hisgh only inhe t mid 50's. heres ia long-range forecast imanation, hercoe mes the wave ofai rn wednesyda night, then after atth, sunny on thursday, frid,ay saturday, and sunday, and a, except r foa fewlo cuds. here is eth accuweath 7er-day forestca showing the bright weheatr we have aheadxc eeptor f eth sli ocef lig rhtainfall on dnweesday. kristen: final!ly 10 athtmospher riciver, th wene e ardone for w ahile. spencer:ea yh. iskrten: w iant to teak lk, caus a you cpaomred some nuermbs that a sreuper impresvesi, rain talots from the rentce storm. spencer: yes. this is the last h72ours, fridaysa, turday, sunday, over three inches in san franccois, arly fouinr ches inak oland. atth is a looft rain, a lot. you can see what we h tadhe ood watesch.

arnely 2.5 ihencs in san threenc ihes in na,ap boulder crk,ee santa czruns, over seven .5 inches. kriste mn:ouai yeah. spencer:spencer: here is a step i found interesting-- stat i found interesting, arraign your ghosn october 1 two the following september 30. this rain year that started a couple months ago, october 1, sfo has already surpassed its annual average water year total. the averages 19.64 inches, and sfo already has 20.3. kristen: ah! granted, we don't get much between april and october, but that is amazing, spencer. i want to show you visits -- video we just got, lexington reservoir. take a look at this. spencer: wow. kristen: how impressive is this? i know you have been looking at the reservoir, too. i don't know the last time i saw

it like that. spencer: i don't remember, either. [laughs] reservoir levels represent percentage of the historical average, and you can see several places are looking pretty good, lake argo, over 100% of thhioran er 100 ahaa, 8othe n bbute ware rit ghnow in rmtes of resvoerir velels. isten: yeah, for se.ur how about snow? kni ow the swpnoack hasee bn etty impssreive as well, right,er phaps -- rothughout the state. spenr:ce serupmp iressive. rehe's t gheraphic for tt.ha ersira snowpkac in the rtnoh, 9%20 oavf erage for thipos int in the ssoean in theea yr. cerantl srriea, toeah, that reongi, nearly 250of% aravege, andod wn ttho e sthou, 2 880%, lking aoslmt 300% average,

statewi, dejust uernd 250%, 247% oavn erage. kristen: wow that is great, right? spencer,ec bause we vehaee bn etmeing to bill, cou tldhat lead to almtos melngti in the sinprg d cause obprlems? spencer: i kwne where youer we goinwig th that queiostn, cause i tamhinking e thsame thg.in itou cld lead stoome proembls. a lot depdsen on how waritm getswh, en it getwas rm, andow h nglo it stay wsarm. snowpack melts at a normal pace, whatever that is, we will be fine. but if we get an extended period of extremely hot weather, rapid melting, that can cause problems not only in terms of flooding but the water supply won't be what we expect it to be when we see snowpack this deep. kristen: all right,, spencer hopefully that will be happening. meantime, we relish the rain and snow can thank you so much. spencer: thank you. kristen: see you at 4:00.

coming up, don't go away, we will talk to abc 7 news special correspondent dr. alok patel, beca

allison: kristen: welcome back. over the weekend, there have been a lot of news about covid, following the golden globe awards. during is to discuss all of this and more, abc 7 news special correspondent dr. alok patel. nice to have you on. dr. patel: it is good to see you and good to see sunshine out of my window. it is a great thing. kristen: i know, right? we want to talk about something a lot of people don't want to talk about anymore, frankly, covid. people don't want to go there, but i guess we have to, because

cases have not gone away, and respiratory illnesses are still happening at large gatherings, highlighted by the golden globes, right? dr. patel: absolutely. we saw the headlines from the golden globes about actresses such as amy lee curtis testing positive for covid-19. it should not surprise anyone, per se, because there is still high level of covid around the country, but the question is, what do people need to be doing on the individual level three years after this pandemic really started? this comes down to making sure you are of where -- you are aware of your individual risk factors, wearing a mask when you need to come of the testing, and guess what? condhanged, that.ling or syita hom krishtoe dshe ssod me light in a new sdytu about siaocl media posts aboutdv aerseve ents after kids g tothe updated cidov booster.

there's someis dcussionbo aut at. at do you kn?ow drpa. tel: well,he tre's a tlo of dissscuion about that, vacce insafety and kids, but simp plyut, from this cdc rertpo, theyoo lked at a lotf o bmsuissions aondverse efftsec, cabeuse the'r's is a voluntary submsiison, anyeon osubmitom sec they consireded to ben aadverse enevt from the vacce.in atth then gets reviewed. they found r aisk of aer sious adrsvee from a booster shot is tremy elrare, so by and large what this does sw hopeople is that heyth, e boteosr shots in osthe adolesnccee is very safe. thiss i iluncding rare neolurogical comicplations or myocartidis, inflaatmmion of the heart. krisn:te g iott. fda guidaenc inclusde young,er healthpey ople do t noneed another vicod booster. what a yreour thoughtsn othat? drpa. tel: this is the debate, what it is standg inover. whathe t daat looks le ikversus

kidsho w are fullymm iunized agnsait kids who are fully immunizeand d had thbie valent shot. simply put, it is ha trdo make a stngro stametent about this, iskrten, becae usa lot of kids have fhed eir the primary series not only safe and effective in preventing those serious outcomes. when it comes to the bivalent shot, it is important for kids who are high risk, for parents to have the conversations and ask questions of doctors, because the shot can be protected, especially with those with underlying medical discussions -- conditions. we hope the discussions give people more confidence and that the vaccines are safe come up of the bivalent and the booster. kristen: i saw some buzz about pfizer being linked to stroke risk in older folks. what are the facts there? dr. patel: the fact is that they cdc and fda has something occult vaccine safety datalink. this should give everybody some more trust that they are constantly combing, looking for potential signals that there

might be an adverse event. they look at half a million reports of stroke in people above the age of 65. they found 130. that is enough to flag it. were thesentel batooster? theyom cpared th tiso other uncotries, vetersan affairs, em cs,enters for medicd aiand medicare services, and they found that this was on its own, not related, and it was not replicated by any of these other studies. long story short, they did not find an association with stroke. that shot is safe and recommended for people above age of 65. kristen: that is reassuring. i want to get back to kids, you know, we were talking about another booster for them. i understand amidst all this, all the debate about covid, that the optic rate seems to be dropping for childhood vaccines as a pediatrician, does that concern you? dr. patel: it absolutely does. it is anyone's guess out there what is causing the drop in terms of childhood vaccines. we are referring to those that

every parent in america knows about when it comes to getting your kid to kindergarten, there are certain vaccines that are mandatory, including polio, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, all those shots. even though the percentage may seem like it is high, going from 94 percent tonight 3%, that 1% drop represents about -- 94% to 93%, that 1% drop represents kids going into kindergarten. when you drop that going -- for such as measles, you get outbreaks. these diseases once upon a time used to be very debilitating. we don't see this anymore, because vaccines work. so we have to do our part to make sure parents not only have access to medical care but they have access to good, trusted, evidence-based information, so they get the right information at the right time when it comes to childhood shots. kristen: we will not get deeply into this, but i think it is important to let people know that the shingles vaccines are now being covered by medicare, right? this is new. dr. patel: they are, yeah.

general statement, for any parents worried, to get their kids the right vaccines, this is why the affordable care act made some great steps forward in terms of health care access. you can get them covered, just ask the right questions. ask any physician's office, any community health care clinic, and they will mixer you get settled. kristen: new childhood obesity treatment guidelines are outcome and they are stirring up some drama. what is the big debate there? dr. patel: the big debate, these new childhood treatment guidelines are now seeing treating children of the city is both safe and effective -- childhood obesity is both safe and effective. children as young as 12 could get medications, and kids as long as -- young as 13 could get bariatric surgery. a lot of people say no, how do we jump to this, it is a lifestyle disease? obesity has a lifestyle component and also a socioeconomic component, a

genetic component, and other medical conditions that could contribute to childhood obesity. here is the thing, it is 100-page document that they clearly outline the fact that interventional, behavior, and lifestyle treatments is extremely if not more important. it comes to, it is on an individual basis, paying attention to a family's social economic status, resources, and their individual child. kristen: you are not jumping automatically to surgery. dr. patel: no! kristen: that is not the recommendation. what early intervention is necessary, right? especially if you look at the numbers in the u.s., i think it is, what, 20% of adolescents are considered obese now? dr. patel: 14.5 million, which is around one out of five. here is the reality. for the longest time, it was hey, give these kids the right information. let's hope and pray that they take this into account and grow out of their obesity. that is not happening.

that watching and waiting method is not working out. these kids are becoming obese adults, it obesity is linked to a lot of different health conditions. it is important that we have those early discussions. but then we also have treatments and lifestyle modification plans in place for families who qualified. anyone out there it was watching right now say hey, dr. patel, what about prevention? prevention is key! prevention and policy changes are also extremely important, but i'm going to be honest her i cannot expect policy changes to happen overnight and to see a net effect from them in the next year or two. we have to start doing something now and be more proactive about obesity, which should be considered a chronic illness. kristen: all right, one last question real quickly, because i talked to somebody else about intermittent fasting as an option today. this really pertains more to women, but would you recommend that for children? dr. patel: simply put, on a general basis, i would not recommend intermittent fasting for children. what i would recommend is that children and their families go and talk to a nutritionist or

ask a professional to first outline what children's diets look like. and if they actually do have good eating practices in terms of eating fresh foods and have access to fresh foods at the right times. when we think about intermittent fasting, but it essentially boils down to is that you are eating in a small amount of time, which gives you a window to follow your diet, but you will be eating less calories per day. i would not recommend, broadly, diane's in children. -- diets in children. parents, you play a very important part here in terms of modeling -- role modeling. kristen: we sure do. dr. alok patel, another a-plus conversation, thank you so much. dr. patel: thank you, kristen. kristen: the 49ers got off to an a-plus start in the nfl playoffs. we will talk to abc 7 sports reporter chris alvarez about the niners'

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foot on the gas! touchdown, san francisco. kristen: and that was the dagger in the 49ers' 41-23 the rival sea attic -- seattle seahawks and what will be a divisional magic this weekend. this is the super wildcard weekend, the first of three steps the niners need to take to get back to the super bowl for the first time since 2019. joining us now to discuss the game, the path forward, is abc 7 sports anchor chris alvarez. , chris, it was such an exciting game, so satisfying. chris: it really was. the niners talked about earlier, they love beating a divisional opponent. they did not lose to a division opponent all season long. here we go, next step, and as you mention, it will be the winner of that cowboys-buccs gam e. kr to previneha wwa yr

chri nro bcky tehive alevee as taken over, y see him have a lot of confidence in what he is doing. he won a spot on the roster and has progressed he got out theres ready to go to the team is stacked all the way around every part, especially the offense. it is about getting in the ball, not turning it over, he played a lot in college, which also helped. kristen: right. first half, i was a little nervous, then he settled into the second half, which was dynamite. ok, now tonight, cowboys, the buccaneers, of course, we had met up with the buccaneers and tom brady come and that was brock purdy's first win, right? chris: yeah, the accolades are building. kristen: who are we going to get, do you think? chris: i think the bucc are going to win tonight's games. they arrive home.

they are not as good this season at the cow were, but they are at home. the cup was over the years, they have not won a super bowl since i think it was the 1996, 1995 season, and sometimes things get rid togainstht and aitlloess be. hi krte he toater h. at 5:00 tonight if we are hosting brady this weekend, there's talk that, i mean, i hope, how does that all come together, the significance of that? chris: we will wait and see how that comes together. tom retired for, what, less than 40there's a lot of talk about where tom is going to go. you've seen a lot of frustration this season. they have not been able to get it together. p is getting older, and he has beaten father tom, but is this the final run?

personal life in football, i don't know how that has worked out for him. he is a human being, not a robot, but so they are not as good as they have been, the niners defense, you sell what they did a couple of weeks ago on the regular season. they are stacked, they got players at every level, and they should be able to get tom brady on a team does not as good as they were a couple of years ago. kristen: ok, so who do you call getting into the super bowl? chris: we are not putting anyone's money in vegas, right? i think the niners are the best team in the nfc. whether it plays out when they get there, i do think kansas city is the best team in the afc. we will wait and see. cincinnati-buffalo, whoever wins that game, i do think it could be a rematch of super bowl liv. kristen: if it were those two, we would have it, right? chris: you would like to think so. kristen: could there be a

quarterback controversy next season? chris: this is what talk radio is all about, right? we will wait and see. jimmy garoppolo, it almost seems a foregone collude inclusionhat. it is unfortunate what happens to jimmy garoppolo. it is one of those things where you get a chance, like brock purdy has gotten, if you lead this team into a super bowl, he has to go into next season unquestionably as a starter. you want to have depth perception. they have trey lance, jimmy garoppolo, and brock purdy now has gotten them in a good spot where they have a chance to win a super bowl. kristen: that is only going to get juicy, depending on what happens in the playoffs, if we do get that super bowl. that question is not going to go away. will quickly come out producer has some video of the cowboys, and we want to chat room quickly about tonight, obviously -- real quickly, our producer has some video of theys. chris: the cowboys, you have to

remember the niners played them last year in dallas, there was that weird play where they did not spike the ball, and we had a hard time in dallas. dallas is a better team on paper. they should actually win the game tonight, but i have a feeling tampa bay is going to beat them. if it is a match against dallas and it will be a high-scoring affair. the niners have been able to put up a lot of points, with brock purdy, more than they have with jimmy garoppolo. either way, it will be primetime action, whether the cowboys coming or tom brady. kristen: keep it right here on kgo. all the action starts at 5:00 tonight. you can get breaking news and more on our streaming tv app

krienst: thank u yoso much for tonit,gh president benid cing groinwg questnsio about the handling of classified domecunts at his former offeic and home. eth presintde ignoring reporters prsiesng him autbo five mo re domecunts found at hisom he in dewalare. e white house insisngti it is fully coorapeting with the justic deepartmen atnd the newly pointed special counsel. houseep rublicans now demdianng to see visorit logs for his ho.me decrmoats and pureblicans accungsi each oerth of a double stanrdda when it comes toor fmer pesident tru ampnd the hundrsed of classified documents found at mar-a-lago. ma bryruce at e thwhite hoe.us also tonight, invld a catastrophic cliolsion at jfk h new rkyo. eon plane speeding dowthn e

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