Study looks at fast food near schools

A recent study published in this month's American Journal of Public Health looked at the prevelance of fast food restaurants near schools and at the effect the restaurants and their location might have on childhood obesity. The researchers found that nearly 80 percent of Chicago schools studied had at least one fast-food restaurant within a half mile, and there were at least three times more fast-food restaurants located less than a mile from schools than would be expected if the restaurants had been more randomly distributed. An estimated 16 percent or more than 9 million U.S. children aged 6 to 19 are seriously overweight or obese, numbers that have tripled since 1980. [AJPH, also Washington Post]