Study: Stroke rates higher in neighborhoods with more fast-food

A new study has found that people living in neighborhoods with a high number of fast-food restaurants could have a significantly higher risk for stroke (Source: “More Fast-Food Joints in Neighborhoods Mean More Strokes,” US News and World Report, Feb. 19, 2009).

Dr. Lewis B. Morgenstern, presenting his findings at the International Stroke Conference in San Diego yesterday, said it is unclear if there is a causal relationship between the prevalence of fast-food and stroke risk.

Morgenstern, a professor of neurology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, studied stroke cases in Nueces County, Texas. He then zeroed in on 64 U.S. Census Bureau tracts in the county to determine the number of fast-food locations in each. The neighborhoods in the top 25 percent had an average of 33 fast-food restaurants per tract and the bottom 25 percent had 12 per tract.

The analysis determined that "there was a 13 percent increased risk of stroke in the top 25 percent compared to the lowest 25 percent," Morgenstern said.

Although researchers could not conclusively prove a causal relationship, Dr. Dean Johnston, a clinical assistant professor of neurology at the University of British Columbia, said the findings are plausible. "This suggests that diet and lifestyle factors are important for stroke prevention," he said.