Scientists have made progress in the study of obesity rates from dietary environmental impacts

: The correlation between the distribution density of home-grown fast food restaurants (FFRs) and whole restaurants (FSRs) and poverty levels (A and B), levels of education (C and D), and the proportion of African-American population (E and F).
americans are getting fatter, it's an indisputable fact that high obesity rates can also lead to serious complications and expensive medical care. But what is causing the surge in obesity rates remains a point of contention. The reason for the argument is that weight gain is caused by energy > by energy intake and energy expenditure, which in many cases can lead to a surplus of total energy. Some studies have attributed the energy surplus mainly to a decrease in physical activity, while others have attributed it to an increase in energy intake. Changes in the "food environment", such as easy-to-access, low-cost, high-calorie, low-nutrition fast food, are often cited as one of the major factors leading to increased energy intake. Other scholars believe that the preference for low-nutrition fast food may be related to lack of education and poverty. To find out exactly whether and how the dietary environment affects weight, the John Speakman team at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences analyzed the relationship between obesity rates in the United States and the distribution density of fast-food and full-service restaurants, and found a lack of correlation. The results were published in August 2017
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: The authors hypothesically assume that restaurant density, even if it is only related to the obesity rate, predicts that the obesity rate of residents in areas with high fast food outlet density (in terms of local population) is high. In addition, if low levels of poverty and education are associated with obesity rates, it can be predicted that the correlation between fast food restaurant distribution density and obesity rates will disappear if the two variables of poverty and average educational attestion are corrected. To test this hypothesis, the authors analyzed data on obesity rates released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012 and fast-food and whole-restaurant distribution density data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The results, contrary to assumptions, are lower rates of obesity in counties with more restaurants, mainly because if a county's residents earn more and are more educated, more restaurants, and high incomes and high levels of education are typical of low obesity rates. In fact, the correlation between restaurant density and obesity rates does not exist when corrected using income and education levels.
: There is no correlation between the distribution density of fast food restaurants and whole restaurants in the United States and the rate of obesity. The probable reason is that eating in a restaurant consumes only 15% of the total energy intake on average. The study has important revelations about how to scientifically formulate policies to address the obesity epidemic.
mohsen Mazidi, an international student in the Speakman group, was the paper's first author and John Speakman, a researcher, was the paper's lead author. Mohsen Mazidi is funded by the CAS-TWAS Presidents Fellowship Programme, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences-Developing Countries. (Source: Science.com)