Though cities like Los Angeles have established moratoriums on the construction of new fast food residents in an effort to tackle obesity, a new study questions the importance of place-based causes and solutions.
"In a new study, researchers from the University of North Carolina led by nutrition professor Barry Popkin have found that even when they are not eating at fast-food restaurants, children who frequent them tend to eat food that would probably make many of them overweight or obese anyway," reports Melissa Healy. "The authors of the latest research combed through a national database of Americans' health and nutrition behaviors and grouped 4,466 American kids--from ages 2 to 18--according to what they ate when they were not eating food purchased at a fast-food restaurant."
"'Our findings suggest that the location where foods are obtained may not be as important as the nutritional quality of the foods consumed,' the authors wrote. They also suggest that 'the effect of public health efforts targeted at fast food restaurants may also be overestimated, such that these efforts may be necessary but not sufficient to reduce child obesity if the remainder of the diet is not addressed.'"
FULL STORY: Fast food isn't making our kids fat. It's the rest of their diet.
Fighting Food Deserts in Los Angeles
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Coloradans are Least Obese, But Still Gaining Weight
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Drive-Thrus Banned at Birthplace
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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Defunct Pittsburgh Power Plant to Become Residential Tower
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Trump Prompts Restructuring of Transportation Research Board in “Unprecedented Overreach”
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Amtrak Rolls Out New Orleans to Alabama “Mardi Gras” Train
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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