Rabin, Roni Caryn. (2009, March

Rabin, Roni Caryn. (2009, March 29). Proximity to fast food a factor in student obesity. The New York Times. Retrieved August 13, 2010 at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/health/nutrition/26obese.html

News article review

According to a study summarized in The New York Times, children whose schools are in closer proximity to fast food restaurants are more likely to be obese. This has caused many politicians within the U.S. And elsewhere to demand more stringent zoning laws regarding fast food chains near schools, much as the sale of alcohol and pornography is also prohibited. The author of the article, Roni Caryn Rabin, details how economists from Columbia University and the University of California tracked the BMI of ninth grade. Even adjusted "for a wide range of variables, including income, education and race, the researchers found that obesity rates were 5% higher among the ninth graders whose schools were within one-tenth of a mile of a pizza, burger or other popular fast-food outlet, compared with students attending schools farther away from fast-food stores" (Rabin 2009, p.1). There have also been calls within the UK for such a geographic ban.

The implications of Columbia-UC study suggest that the rapid increase in BMI of schoolchildren nation and world-wise is not merely due to genetics or a failure of willpower -- or even economics, as economic factors were controlled for in the study. Even when parents had enough income to provide children with healthier alternatives, the nearby presence of fast food notably increased children's consumption. The researchers were uncertain why this was the case. "It could be that students don't like to wander too far…Maybe they don't have a long lunch period. Maybe it's just the effect of having temptation right in front of your eyes" surmised the authors (Rabin 2010, p.1). Peer pressure -- seeing all of one's friends eat fast food, and having an environment that normalized fast food consumption, and reinforced pro-fast food messages seen on television might be to blame, although further research is needed.

As a result of this study, there have been calls to create zoning laws that ban fast food establishments from existing near schools in many major urban locations within the U.S. "I think we got as close to proving causation…as is feasible with the existing data," said one of the paper's authors, adding "we're quite confident that these are credible and unbiased estimates of the causal effect of fast food on obesity" (Rabin 2010, p.1). He also noted other studies that showed the proximity of fast food establishments to be conducive to weight gain in pregnant women. A longitudinal study found women who lived within a half-mile of a fast-food restaurant were at increased risk of gaining more than 44 pounds during a pregnancy compared with those living farther away (Rabin 2010, p.1). After the study was published a city councilman in New York City, called for a proposal to prohibit new fast-food restaurants within a tenth of a mile of all city schools (Buckley 2010, p.1).