Fast-food nearby: Convenience, but at what cost?

Jun 8, 2009 10:53 AM

I have a weakness for Doritos. If they're within arm's reach on my desk, I'll inhale the entire bag without giving a second thought to the healthier snacks in my kitchen. I just can't seem to help myself, which is why I often skip the chips aisle at the grocery store.

Having easy access to unhealthy foods can be a recipe for dietary disaster. And, according to a new study, this seems to be true whether the tempting morsels are in our cupboards, or around the corner at a fast-food restaurant.

The study looked at how fast-food influences the overall quality of people's diets, particularly when these restaurants are plentiful nearby. Researchers pulled data from a survey of more than 5,600 adults ages 45 to 84 who lived in six urban areas. They used two scales to rate the quality of people's diets, looking at both positive factors (e.g., eating fruits and vegetables, fiber, and good fats) and negative (e.g., eating fatty and processed meats, fried potatoes, salty snacks, and desserts). People were also asked how often they ate fast-food in a week, and whether they had many fast-food restaurants within a mile of where they lived. For an objective measure of fast-food availability, the researchers also mapped the locations of fast-food chains nearby.

People who consumed fast-food at least once a week were two to three times more likely to have a poorer-quality diet than those who didn't eat any fast-food. And having more fast-food options close by decreased the odds of having a healthy diet by up to 17 percent. When working out these results, the researchers took into account factors known to influence what we eat, such as age, sex, race, education, and income. Doing this makes the link between fast-food and diet all the stronger.

These results may not surprise you, as it might seem obvious that eating fast-food—which can be high in fat, calories, and salt—would be linked to a poorer-quality diet. And it may also seem apparent that having lots of fast-food nearby would increase the odds of eating it. But few studies have actually provided numbers to support these theories, which makes these findings notable. They also lend support to other studies that have linked various health problems to the availability of fast-food (see When fast-food's nearby, stroke risk is high and Fast-food restaurants near schools feed obesity).

What you need to know. This type of study can't show cause-and-effect, so it can't prove that having fast-food nearby leads to a poorer-quality diet. But it does show a strong link, which should add fuel to campaigns to help wean people away from their fast-food ways. What will it take? That's unclear, but options include requiring nutritional labeling for all fast-food, using pricing incentives and penalties to encourage healthier choices, adopting zoning ordinances to keep fast-food from some areas, and making healthy foods more accessible and affordable.

—Sophie Ramsey, patient editor

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Read more on the fast-food culture, see our tips for choosing healthier options at fast-food restaurants, and find out how lifestyle changes can help fight obesity (subscribers only).