Fast food diet could be linked to diabetes, study warns

• Eating fast food more than twice a week has strong links with weight gain and insulin resistance, a US study shows.
• Boston Children's Hospital experts followed more than 3,000 young people's eating habits over 15 years.
• But other experts said people who ate a lot of fast food were also likely have generally unhealthy lifestyles, increasing their risk of disease.
• The 2004 film Supersize Me documented the effects on health of eating nothing but fast food for a month.
• The US study looked at the eating habits of 3,000 African-American and white adults aged between 18 and 30.
• Those who visited fast-food restaurants more than twice a week (87 people) gained on average an extra 4.5kg (9.9lbs) and had a two-fold greater increase in insulin resistance compared to those who went less than once a week.
• Overall, it was found that white women ate fast food the least, with an average of 1.3 visits to restaurants per week.
• He added: "In view of the high and increasing rates of fast-food consumption, further research into the effects of this dietary pattern on public health should be given priority."
• In a commentary in the Lancet, Professor Arne Astrup, of the research department of human nutrition at Denmark's Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, said the study was limited because it relied on people reporting their dietary habits accurately.
• Professor Astrup said the fast-food industry would argue there was little compelling evidence to show large portions were damaging health.
• But he said: "Appropriate action would be to reduce portions to normal sizes and to sell burgers of lean meat, whole-grain bread or buns, fat-reduced mayonnaise, more vegetables, lower-fat fired potatoes and reduced-sugar soft drinks.