Posted April 1, 2011
For Mecklenburg County residents, having access to restaurants could increase the risks of dying prematurely from heart disease or diabetes.
That is one conclusion of a study released Thursday by researchers at UNC Charlotte.
Fast-food restaurants are a particular concern, according to the report.
Premature deaths from diabetes increase by 8 percent in neighborhoods where a fast-food restaurant operates. Premature deaths from heart disease increase by 5 percent, the report says.
The study also linked full-service restaurants to health risks. Premature deaths from diabetes rise by 3 percent for each full-service restaurant in a neighborhood, according to the study.
“The number of restaurants that are available within an area is related to premature deaths,” said Elizabeth Racine, lead researcher for the Mecklenburg County Community Food Assessment.
Still, more data is needed to know whether restaurants have a direct link to premature mortality rates, Racine said.
“The study is just looking at correlations in a community,” Racine said. “You’d have to look at people over time to see if that exposure causes these things.”
Understanding the relationship between restaurants and community health is important because Americans spend 48 percent of their food dollars on average at restaurants, Racine said, based on estimates from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
The Mecklenburg County Health Department paid for the $6,000 study. Racine’s team gathered data on 1,267 restaurants that were operating in the county in April 2010.
Among those, 812 were full-service operations, where customers paid after eating. The other 455 were fast-food restaurants, where customers paid before eating.
The team also studied the 373 Mecklenburg neighborhoods identified in the U.S. Census and pulled together information about the residents in those neighborhoods.
Many restaurants offer healthy options, but it’s up to customers to choose those items, said Tom Stroozas, managing director of the Charlotte chapter of the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association.
And health risks related to diet aren’t just linked to restaurants, he said.
“You can eat just as poorly at home as you can going out to eat … in a restaurant,” Stroozas said.
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Copyright © 2011, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.