According to a research report, students who go to schools situated within a half mile of fast food restaurants, have more chances of being overweight and fat. In the research the comparison have been done between the children going to schools which are at a distance from the fast food restaurants.

Drs. Brennan Davis of Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, California and Christopher Carpenter of California at Irvine, wrote in a report that  “Overall, our patterns are consistent with the idea that fast food near schools affects students’ eating habits, overweight, and obesity.” This report was published in the American journal of Public Health.

David Carpenter, in his study used data of 3 years, from 2002 to 2005. This data included students of middle and high school, taken from California Healthy kids Survey, numbering to 500,000 records. He used this information to analyze whether the children become fat due to their specific eating habits or the easy access of fast food restaurants.

His findings concluded that 40 percent students were falling in the fat list. Amongst these 40 percent, 12 percent were obese, and the rest 28 percent were overweight. The 40 percent students were those who were going to schools situated near a fast food restaurant.

Davis and Carpenter further say, “Regardless of which option policymakers choose, the need for intervention is clear.” “The sheer magnitude of the problem of childhood obesity demands attention.” They also state that instead of taking ‘more drastic’ steps, ways of providing healthier food must be thought out and adopted.