Uh-oh:U.C.L.A. researchers have uncovered a link between the grocery gap and rising obesity, the Los Angeles Times reports.Maybe living so close to so much isn't quite as good as I thought it was?The study found that neighborhoods with dramatically more fast-food restaurants and convenience stores than supermarkets also have significantly elevated rates of obesity and diabetes.
The relationship holds true across demographic lines and income levels.
(HT Richard Florida)
4 comments:
I live some three miles from my grocery store of choice, and go to and fro on a bicycle. This has improved my quality of life in two ways: first by making me exercise more than I would otherwise; and second by virtue of that you really can't buy that much if you have to haul it home on a bike after you've bought it, and thus makes you priotitize.
This does, of course, presuppose that you can bike yourself to and fro where you want to go. Sadly, not everyone has that basic luxury...
Uh... direction of causality?
Lower transaction costs for getting fast food and downward sloping demand curves. Ceteris paribus, you'd expect people to consume more as it becomes more convenient.
Speaking for myself, I certainly stop by 7-11 a lot more now with it being half a block away than I did when I lived in Fairfax.
If you think of relative price changes as being causal, then location is too.
Or maybe people who like fatty foods locate near fast food restaurants. The point is, the data in this "study" give us no indication which story is better.
Post a Comment