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A group that measures how states support students in such key areas as health, safe environments and academic success has released its annual Whole Child “snapshots,” and it has good news and bad news for California.

Each state gets its own snapshot from ASCD, formerly known as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, with a comparison to the national average on many key statistics.

For California, the snapshot found:

• 23 percent of state students live in poverty; the national average is 22 percent.
• 30 percent of the state’s students are obese; the national average is 31 percent.
• 67 percent of the state’s children live in neighborhoods with sidewalks, a library, a recreation center and a park; the national average is 54 percent.
• The state’s student-to-counselor ration is 826 to 1, which ranks 49th among the 50 states.
• Only 27 percent of the state’s public school 4th grade students and 28 percent of 8th grade scored proficient or higher on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress; the national average for both is 34 percent.

“The Whole Child Snapshots are intended to highlight how well children are faring, both in and out of school, in each state,” David Griffith, ASCD director of public policy said in a news release. “The nation has mixed results, with some encouraging signs of progress alongside some persistent challenges. We want to work with educators and the public to put in the place the strategies to best meet the comprehensive needs of children.”