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Risk of stroke rises with number of fast-food restaurants nearby
Here is the full text of a news release sent out today by the American Stroke Association, which is a division of the American Heart Association.
Studies like these are tricky in making an association between the two factors, and the release does a good job of explaining that there is no proof of a cause-and-effect relationship between eating fast foods and increased risk of stroke. Still, the results are intriguing, and seem to beg further study.
Here’s the release:
The risk of stroke increases with the number of fast-food restaurants in a neighborhood, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2009.
After statistically controlling for demographic and socioeconomic factors, researchers found:
— Residents of neighborhoods with the highest number of fast-food restaurants had a 13 percent higher relative risk of suffering ischemic strokes than those living in areas with the lowest numbers of restaurants.
— The relative risk of stroke increased 1 percent for each fast-food restaurant in a neighborhood.
However, the researchers said the discovery of increased risk only demonstrates an association, it does not prove that fast-food restaurants raise stroke risk.
“The data show a true association,” said Lewis B. Morgenstern, M.D., lead author of the study and director of the University of Michigan’s stroke program and professor of neurology and epidemiology in Ann Arbor. “What we don’t know is whether fast food actually increased the risk because of its contents, or whether fast-food restaurants are a marker of unhealthy neighborhoods.”
Neighborhoods with large numbers of the restaurants are prime areas for stroke prevention programs, Morgenstern said. “We need to consider targeting communities that have a lot of fast-food restaurants as places where we can improve health.”
The fast food-stroke association emerged from data gathered in the ongoing Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi (BASIC) project, which has identified strokes occurring in Nueces County, Texas, since Jan.1, 2000. This report examined 1,247 ischemic strokes that occurred from the study’s start through June 2003.
Nueces County has 262 fast-food restaurants, defined by the researchers as having at least two of four characteristics: rapid food service, takeout business, limited or no wait staff and payment required before receiving food.
The team used the 64 U.S. Census Bureau tracts in Nueces County — from which they obtained demographic and socioeconomic data — as proxies for neighborhoods. Researchers determined the number of fast-food establishments in each tract, and then sorted the tracts into four groups based on number of fast-food restaurants.
Neighborhoods with the lowest numbers of fast-food restaurants (less than 12) were in the 25th percentile and those with the highest numbers (greater than 33) were in the 75th percentile.
The epidemiological study supports previous research that suggested a link between fast food and cardiovascular disease — to which some fast-food chains have responded by including more nutritious options to their menus.
Morgenstern said the report needs to be confirmed and expanded by similar studies of the correlation between fast-food restaurants and stroke in other cities.
“We need to start unraveling why these particular communities have higher stroke risks,” Morgenstern said. “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?”
Each year about 780,000 people have a new or recurrent stroke. Of all strokes, 87 percent are ischemic, which result from a blocked artery in the brain or an artery feeding blood to the brain.
Co-authors are: James D. Escoba, M.P.H.; Rebecca Hughes, B.A.; Belinda G. Zuniga. C.N.A.; Brisa Sánchez, Ph.D.; Nelda Garcia, B.S.; and Lynda D. Lisabeth, Ph.D. Individual author disclosures can be found on the abstract.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke funds the BASIC study.
Editor’s Note: Because the number of meals people are eating outside of the home is reaching an all-time high, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association believes it is important that consumers have the right kind of information at point-of-purchase to make healthy food choices. The American Heart Association supports calorie labeling in all restaurants that use standardized recipes and emphasizes the central importance of diet and physical activity in achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle and reducing cardiovascular disease and stroke risk.
Just to be clear, that editor’s note is part of the news release — not an editor’s note from Taste.
This study comes on the heels of the federal appeals court decision earlier this week against fast-food restaurants who challenged the New York City health commissioner’s rule forcing them to post calorie information on many of their most popular dishes.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Food and health
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By The Mayor
February 19, 2009 8:01 PM | Link to this
This is a lifestyle issue. People that truly care about what they put in their bodies learn to prepare their own food and manage their lives to accommodate that priority. Food for thought.
By DUH
February 19, 2009 5:30 PM | Link to this
Though I’m not questioning the relative connection between proximity to fast food restaurants and the heightened risk of elevated cholestorol of surrounding residents, this study seems skewed based on density. Where do they put more fast food restaurants? In highly populated areas. This seems like a per-capita issue…
By flipper
February 19, 2009 4:59 PM | Link to this
Also a few years ago the American Heart Association found that fast food was also a major contributor to high cholesterol leading to plaque in the arteries. You would think they would pass it on to their division, the American Stroke Assoc. Too easy?