Drawing on data from FIVE years of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), an annual telephone health survey of the adult population of the US and the 2002 U.S. Economic Census, the researchers examined the relationship between restaurant availability and weight status in 544 U.S. counties. This resulted in over 700,000 BRFSS respondents, representative of approximately 75% of the 2002 U.S. population.
The researchers found that a higher total restaurant density is significantly associated with lower weight status. However, once the restaurants are split into components: fast food and full service, a higher full-service restaurant density is significantly associated with lower weight status. in contrast, a higher fast-food density is associated with higher weight status.