Originally published May 25 2005
Fast food and heart attacks linked, says Canadian study
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A study in Ontario, Canada found that the death rates in areas with a high density of fast-food restaurants were twice as high as areas with fewer fast-food eateries. Similarly, the heart attack hospitalization rates in high-density areas were 11.5 times higher than in low-density areas. Social and economic statuses of Ontario residents in the study were taken into account, but heart attack and mortality rates were unaffected by those factors, said Dr. David Alter, the study's lead researcher. The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association called the study "flawed" and "misleading."
- A new study in Canada's Ontario Province found that death rates in areas with the highest concentration of quick-service restaurants were twice as high as those in places with fewer fast food outlets, local press reportedThursday.
- The study found that heart attack hospitalization rates were about 11.5 times higher in the areas with high density of quick service restuarants.A high-density region was considered to have 20 or more eateries per 100,000 population.
- "We've found an important link between the number of fast-food outlets in a region and the rate of heart disease and mortality inthat region," said Dr. David Alter, lead author of the study by Canada's Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences (ICES).
- The study also looked at differences based on socioeconomic status, but the association between fast-food density and poor health outcomes held fast, Alter said.
- "It was the same whether these were affluent communities or impoverished communities."
- Stephen Samis, director of health policy for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, agreed on the importance of continuing to remind Canadians to eat a healthy and balanced diet.
- However, the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association called the research flawed and misleading.
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