SANTA MONICA, Calif., Oct 6, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- An ordinance to restrict
fast-food chain restaurants in South Los Angeles is unlikely to cut obesity,
officials of a non-profit research organization said.
Researchers at Rand Health, part of the Rand Corp., found that the South Los
Angeles region has no more fast-food chain establishments on a per capita basis
than other parts of the city, but rather many more small food stores and other
food outlets.
The report, published online by the journal Health Affairs, said these small
food stores and outlets are more likely to be the source of high-calorie snacks
and soda consumed substantially more often by residents of South Los Angeles as
compared to other parts of the city.
"The Los Angeles ordinance may have been an important first by being concerned
with health outcomes, but it is not the most promising approach to lowering the
high rate of obesity in South Los Angeles," lead author Roland Sturm, a senior
economist at Rand, a nonprofit research organization, said in a statement.
"It does not address the main differences we see in the food environment between
Los Angeles neighborhoods nor in the diet of residents."
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