Study Data Spotlight Link Between Fast-Food Consumption And Obesity Epidemic

A bulletin published by the World Health Organization reports a link between the obesity epidemic and the increase in fast food consumption in developed countries over the last decade. U.S. researchers suggested that national governments could retard or even reverse the obesity problem by regulating fast food consumption. The authors analyzed data on the number of fast food transactions per capita from 1999 to 2008 in 25 high-income countries, finding that each 1-unit increase in the average number of annual fast food transactions per capita was associated with an increase of 0.0329 in BMI over the study period. "Unless governments take steps to regulate their economies, the invisible hand of the market will continue to promote obesity worldwide with disastrous consequences,” the researchers concluded.