Can Living in a Bad Neighborhood Make You Fat?

A new study of public high school students suggests a connection between obesity and feeling unsafe in one's neighborhood.

1 minute read

August 31, 2009, 6:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur


"Of the 1,140 students surveyed, nearly 12 percent said they rarely felt safe in their neighborhood and 9 percent said they never felt safe in their neighborhood.

These students were about 1.2 times more likely to be overweight or at risk for becoming overweight compared with students who said they sometimes or always felt safe (44 percent) or always felt safe (36 percent), researchers report in the online journal Public Health, published by BioMed Central."

Friday, August 28, 2009 in ABC News

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