More fast-food joints, more strokes: say researchers

20 February 2009

To some of the well known risk factors for strokes like smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes, researchers have now added a new risk factor - the more the number of fast-food and take-away joints in the neighbourhood, the more the risk of strokes in that area.

The findings were presented by a team of researchers led by Dr. Morgenstern of the University of Ann Arbor at the International Stroke Conference organised by the American Stroke Association in San Diego.

The research suggests that people living in neighborhoods with many fast-food and take-away joints could face increased risk of stroke by 13 per cent, compared to people staying in places with fewer such outlets.

The team conducted a study on 1,247 ischaemic stroke victims in Nueces County, Texas, from January 2000 through June 2003, where most of them were living in close proximity to 262 fast-food joints in the county and arrived at the conclusion that with every fast-food joint near a person's house, the risk of stroke increased by 1 per cent.

The researchers selected only those fast-food joints that had at least two of the four main characteristics of such outlets - fast food service, takeaway business, either with limited or no waiting staff and where payments were made prior to receiving food with the most to least number of fast-food joints being ranked.

Although the researchers were unable to come up with exact numbers, but the census took neighborhoods in the top 25 per cent that had 33 fast-food outlets per tract and approximately 5,000 people, while those in the lowest tract had 12 fast-food outlets. The study also factored socio-economic status and demographic profiles before arriving at its conclusion.