Study Links Fast-Food Diets To Increased Stroke Risk
Posted on: Friday, 20 February 2009, 13:15 CST
U.S. researchers said on Thursday that people who live in neighborhoods packed with fast-food restaurants are more likely to suffer strokes, Reuters reported.A University research team showed that people in one Texas county who lived in neighborhoods with the highest number of fast-food restaurants had a 13 percent higher risk of experiencing a stroke than those in neighborhoods with the fewest fast-food restaurants.
While the study doesn’t prove living near fast-food restaurants raises the risk of stroke, it does suggest the two are linked in some way.
Dr. Lewis Morgenstern of the University of Michigan's stroke program, who led the study, said the data shows a true association.
However, he said it is still unclear whether being surrounded by fast-food means you eat more of it, or that it’s simply a sign of an unhealthy neighborhood.
Morgenstern said during a presentation at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference that society needs to start unraveling why these particular communities have higher stroke risks .
"Is it direct consumption of fast food? Is it the lack of more healthy options? Is there something completely different in these neighborhoods that is associated with poor health?" he asked.
The study looked at stroke data for residents of Nueces County, Texas, between January 1, 2000 and June 2003 and discovered that during that time, county residents suffered a total of 1,247 ischemic strokes, the most common type caused by a blocked artery that chokes off blood flow to the brain.
The number of fast-food restaurants in each neighborhood was determined using the U.S. Census Bureau demographic and socioeconomic data.
The team then compared neighborhoods with the lowest number of fast-food restaurants -- fewer than 12 -- to those with the highest number -- more than 33.
Relative stroke risk rose one percent for each fast-food restaurant in a neighborhood, researchers said.
“Public health experts should consider fast-food dense neighborhoods as prime areas for stroke prevention programs,” said Morgenstern.
He suggested targeting communities that have a lot of fast-food restaurants as places that required health improvements.
Studies in the past have shown a link between fast-food restaurants, heart risks and obesity, leading consumer groups to push for laws such as July's moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in certain neighborhoods of Los Angeles.
The food industry, however, claims lack of exercise is more to blame.
In the United States, Stroke is the No. 3 killer behind heart disease and cancer.
Some 780,000 Americans will have strokes this year, the CDC estimates. Strokes will kill 150,000 people and leave 15 percent to 30 percent of survivors permanently disabled.
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Source: redOrbit Staff
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