Posted by
Playful Walrus on Tuesday, October 06, 2009 4:00:00 PM
The Rand Corp says that the Los Angeles City Council's vote restricting fast food establishments in "south central" Los Angeles is unlikely to curb obesity rates. Jerry Hirsch of the Los Angeles Times brings us the update on this, which I wrote about here and here.
The study was based on InfoUSA business data and a survey of 1,480 Los Angeles County residents. It was funded by the National Institutes of Health, with no financial support from the fast-food industry, Sturm said.
Contrary to "conventional wisdom," the density of fast-food chain restaurants per capita is actually less in South Los Angeles than in other parts of the city, said Sturm, a Rand senior economist.
Uh oh! Now the companies are going to get sued for not being there!
They found that the far wealthier West Los Angeles has 29 fast-food chain establishments, 14 small food stores and 10 large supermarkets per 100,000 residents. South Los Angeles, by comparison, has 19 fast-food chain restaurants, 58 small food stores and three large grocery stores.
The authors said those data were at odds with "media reports about an over-concentration of fast-food establishments" in South Los Angeles.
Imagine that.
Among those reports, the study cited a chart that accompanied a July 30, 2008, story in The Times. The chart said fast-food establishments represented 45% of all restaurants in South Los Angeles. That was a higher percentage than in any other section of the city.
But what that means is that there are not as many establishments in general. This is not surprising, given crime, lack of spending, and the fact that the population density is higher in South Cental.
Councilman Bernard C. Parks, whose 8th District includes part of the area where the moratorium is in force, took exception to the Rand report.
He's not one to let facts get in his way.
However, the study found no difference in fruit and vegetable consumption between residents of South Los Angeles and people in other areas. Likewise, there was no difference in the proportion of people who participate in 300 minutes of exercise or more per week.
Residents of both West and South Los Angeles tend to eat out about 3.5 times a week, though South Los Angeles residents are more likely to obtain food from a food cart or truck rather than a sit-down restaurant, the study said. South Los Angeles residents also were likely to watch more television.
Radio reports are also citing convenience stores.
Like I said in my previous messages – let the free market work.