Study of L.A. Finds Correlation Between Car Ownership, Weight Loss

Researchers at the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Study used information gathered from 2,156 L.A. residents and discovered that residents who don’t own a car and live in neighborhood with a high density of fast-food restaurants weigh an average of 12 pounds more than a car owners in the same area.

The study’s authors explain that all residents are negatively affected if they live in an area with numerous fast-food options, but those without a car seem to be worse off.

One could see the correlation as strictly economic: Those without cars tend to be worse-off financially, spend less time at full-service restaurants and make fewer trips to the grocery store. The study’s findings are interesting, especially when you consider the hold that fast-food chain restaurants have over low-income neighborhoods. And the invention of the drive-through.

Car Ownership—the New Fad Diet? (Los Angeles Times)