A recent Childhood Obesity Digest produced by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation highlighted an article that pulled together several threads of research looking at environmental contributors to obesity.
In a study published in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM), University of London researchers found that fast food restaurants are more prevalent in underserved neighborhoods in England and Scotland than in wealthier communities, and a similar study published in AJPM last year revealed that predominantly African-American, low-income neighborhoods in New Orleans had 2.4 fast food restaurants per square mile, compared with 1.5 fast food restaurants per square mile in wealthier neighborhoods... Health advocates say communities can work to create healthier environments by restricting the distance between schools and fast food restaurants; providing tax incentives for grocery stores to open in inner cities; and applying a "fat tax" to fast food purchases and using the money generated to create public education campaigns about obesity.
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