Los Angeles FastFood Restaurant Ban Unlikely to Have Impact on Obesity, RAND Study Concludes.

(From AScribe)

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Restrictions on fast-food chain restaurants in South Los Angeles are not addressing the main differences between neighborhood food environments and are unlikely to improve the diet of residents or reduce obesity, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Researchers from RAND Health found that the South Los Angeles region has no more fast-food chain establishments on a per capita basis than other parts of the city, but rather many more small food stores and other food outlets.

Those outlets are more likely to be the source of high-calorie snacks and soda consumed substantially more often by residents of South Los Angeles as compared to other parts of the city, according to the study published online by the journal Health Affairs.

"The Los Angeles ordinance may have been an important first by being concerned with health …