blast
Senior Member
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The L.A. City Council flexed its muscles today with the bold announcement that it just might take on Obesity (or as it is more commonly known, being as Fat as a whale).
One can only guess that the City Council, in all its wisdom, is attempting to grab some War on Terror cash with its War on Fat. American lives are certainly at stake, and more important, a cabal of terrorists has been identified, headed by a clown named Ronald and some joker with a giant ping pong ball for a head who goes by the name of Jack. There's also a Colonel rumored to be involved.
quote:
Limits proposed on fast-food restaurants
By Tami Abdollah, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 10, 2007
As America gets fatter, policymakers are seeking creative approaches to legislating health. They may have entered the school cafeteria -- and now they're eyeing your neighborhood.
Amid worries of an obesity epidemic and its related illnesses, including high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, Los Angeles officials, among others around the country, are proposing to limit new fast-food restaurants -- a tactic that could be called health zoning.
The City Council will be asked this fall to consider an up to two-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in South L.A., a part of the city where fast food is at least as much a practicality as a preference.
"The people don't want them, but when they don't have any other options, they may gravitate to what's there," said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who proposed the ordinance in June, and whose district includes portions of South L.A. that would be affected by the plan.
In just one-quarter of a mile near USC on Figueroa Street, from Adams Boulevard south, there are about 20 fast-food outlets. . .
A Times analysis of the city's roughly 8,200 restaurants found that South Los Angeles has the highest concentration of fast-food eateries. Per capita, the area has fewer eating establishments of any kind than the Westside, downtown or Hollywood, and about the same as the Valley. But a much higher percentage of those are fast-food chains. South L.A. also has far fewer grocery stores.
Thirty percent of adults in South L.A. are obese, compared with 20.9% in the county overall, according to a county Department of Public Health study released in April. For children, the obesity rate was 29% in South L.A., compared with 23.3% in the county.
And the figures are higher than a decade ago. In 1997, the adult rate was 25.3% in South L.A. and 14.3% in the county. South L.A. also has the highest diabetes levels in the county, at 11.7%, compared with 8.1% in the county.
"While limiting fast-food restaurants isn't a solution in itself, it's an important piece of the puzzle," said Mark Vallianatos, director of the Center for Food and Justice at Occidental College.
This is "bringing health policy and environmental policy together with land-use planning," he said. "I think that's smart, and it's the wave of the future."
In all seriousness, unhealthy eating and all of the resulting health problems is indeed a problem that needs addressing. Far more Americans die annually from bad eating-related ailments like obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and on and on than are killed by "terrorists." It's preventable, and it's in our own backyard.
Find the Full Story here.
Last edited by blast on 09-11-2007 at 11:24 AM
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09-11-2007 10:48 AM
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