TORONTO -- A new study suggest neighbourhoods with a high number of fast food restaurants are no place for the weight conscious.
The research reveals that the average body mass index of Canadians living in areas with a high density of fast food outlets is higher than the average BMI of people who live in neighbourhoods with more full-service restaurants.
The study was conducted by scientists at Western University, in London, and published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health.
Some earlier studies done in the United States have revealed similar findings, but the authors say this paper is the first to show the possible link in the Canadian context.
The study mapped areas across the country, comparing the average BMI of people in particular locations to the density and type of restaurants in those neighbourhoods.
A study of this type cannot prove cause and effect, so the researchers cannot say that living around fast food restaurants is contributing to the higher weights of people in those areas.
While the study found more fast food outlets was associated with higher weights, it found that people who live in neighbourhoods with more full-service restaurants generally weighed less.
In either case the effect wasn't huge. For instance women of average height who lived in fast-food plentiful neighbourhoods weighed on average 1.14 kilograms more than women who lived around fewer fast food outlets. And men who lived in areas where there were a lot of full-service restaurants weighed on average three kilograms less than men who did not.
The authors suggest the information could be used to help frame public policy aimed at addressing the obesity epidemic. For example, municipal zoning bylaws could be put in place to regulate the number and density of fast food restaurants in neighbourhoods or even ban them outright in some areas, they suggest.
