You’re hungry, you’ve only got a limited amount of time, and the only option in sight is a fast-food joint. Sure it’s convenient. But a new study shows that having a fast food outlet nearby could also increase your risk of getting fat.

The investigation, conducted by economists at the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University, followed a large population of schoolchildren over almost a decade. The data they collected were so detailed that researchers were able to observe changes in the years before and after new fast-food stores opened near schools. Their conclusion: rates of obesity in ninth graders were 5 percent higher in schools within one-tenth of a mile of a a pizza or burger joint, compared to students at schools farther away from temptation.

Not surprisingly, the National Restaurant Association attacked the findings, calling them “slapdash.” But economist Enrico Moretti, one of the papers’ authors, defended the study’s conclusions. “We’re quite confident that these are credible and unbiased estimates of the causal effect of fast food on obesity for the group we focused on,” he told The New York Times.

In a related part of the study, the scientists analyzed data from millions of women who gave birth over the past 15 years in New Jersey, Michigan, and Texas. Those who lived within a half-mile of a fast-food restaurant were more likely to gain more than 44 pounds during pregnancy, the data showed.

Obesity researchers were quick to say the findings support zoning law restrictions on fast-food restaurants near schools. Good luck. Our recommendatons: spend more time at school teaching kids about healthy food choices and the lifelong dangers of getting fat. Make more healthy food choices available at schools. And increase the number of after-school physical activities.

© 2009 PDQhealth

Tags: fast-food restaurants, obesity, schools