Eating At
Fast-food Restaurants More Than Twice Per Week Is Associated With More
Weight Gain And Insulin Resistance In Otherwise Healthy Young Adults [more]
Researchers have shown a correlation
between fast food, weight gain, and insulin resistance in what appears
to be the first long-term study on this subject. The Coronary Artery
Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study by Mark Pereira, Ph.D.,
assistant professor in epidemiology, University of Minnesota School of
Public Health, and David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Obesity
Program at Children's Hospital Boston, reported that fast food
increases the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The results of this
15-year study will be published in the Jan. 1 issue of The Lancet.
Participants who consumed fast food two or more times a week gained
approximately 10 more pounds and had twice as great increase in insulin
resistance in the 15-year period than participants who consumed fast
food less than once per week. "Fast-food consumption has increased in
the United States during the past three decades," said Pereira. "While
there have been many discussions about fast-food's effects on obesity,
this appears to be the first scientific, comprehensive long-term study
to show a strong connection between fast-food consumption, obesity, and
risk for type 2 diabetes." "The CARDIA study factored in and monitored
lifestyle factors including television viewing, physical activity,
alcohol consumption, and smoking, but determined that increase in body
weight and insulin resistance from fast-food intake seemed to be
largely independent of these other lifestyle factors," said Ludwig. This was a multi-center, population-based study
with study centers in Birmingham, Ala., Chicago, Ill., Minneapolis,
Minn., and Oakland, Calif. [more]
According to the study, men visited fast-food restaurants more frequently than women and blacks more frequently than whites.
Black men reported an average
frequency of 2.3 visits per week in 2000-01. White women had the lowest
frequency, at an average of 1.3 visits per week in 2000-01.
