Not so fast

Mining data from the Born in Bradford cohort, researchers examine the relationship between proximity to fast food outlets, deprivation, obesity and ethnicity.  They found that the South Asian women in the study had greater access to fast food outlets but were less likely to be obese (17% with BMI > 30 as compared with 24% amongst non-South Asian women).  The study calls into question the usual assumption that area level deprivation and density of fast food outlets are strongly linked to obesity: other factors are at play, too.  Another UK based study attempts to make some connections between ethnicity density, neighbourhood food and physical activity environments.