My neighborhood gas station is fattening up even as my favorite Mexican restaurant is thinning out the chicken in my quesadilla.

I can now buy beer, beef jerky and a toy that too closely resembles an AK-47 at my cluttered Valero station, where the owner is desperately trying to sell something that makes him money 'cause the dollars spent on gas don't.

The energy chaos comes while I'm reading a UCLA Center for Health Policy Research study that says California's skyrocketing obesity/diabetes rates disproportionately affect low-income communities that have higher ratios of fast-food and convenience stores. They created something called a Retail Food Environmental Index to separate bad from worse neighborhoods.

People who don't have cars or easy public transit to supermarkets that sell fruit, low-fat and higher-nutrient products tend to gobble high-calorie, high-fructose food sold nearby. So, what happens as gasoline prices soar? What will be the impact on diabetes and obesity?

When my favorite eateries start skimping on ingredients to offset costs, my response is to buy cookbooks and additional storage containers for the leftovers I'll generate by staying home. I'll make fewer visits to nifty, pricey places like Whole Foods that are 30-minutes drive each way, and instead battle weekend crowds at Costco.  But I have options.

Community Regional Medical Center is home to one of the Valley's busiest dialysis centers. And Community Medical Centers has some of the nation's top bariatric surgeons.  The good news is we provide those services. The bad news is that the energy squeeze will probably generate more customers.

(You can access the UCLA report, "Designed for Disease," at http://www.healthpolicy.ucla.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pubID=250 )