Having more fast food restaurant in your neighborhood increases your chances of having a stroke, according to a study presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference.

 

University of Michigan researchers compared the number of strokes in different parts of Nueces County, Texas, where about 262 fast food restaurants are located. It’s a known fact that fast food meals are not exactly the health food we all should eat in order to prevent obesity, heart disease or strokes.

 

Study author Dr. Lewis B. Morgenstern, a professor of neurology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and colleagues gathered data on stroke cases in Nueces County, Texas. They found 1,247 cases of ischemic stroke from January 2000 through June 2003. Then, they counted the number of fast-food restaurants in the county and found there were 262.

 

Using US Census Bureau demographic and socioeconomic data, they split the city into 64 neighborhoods to determine the number of fast-food restaurants in each neighborhood.

 

The researchers found that people living in neighborhoods with an average of 33 fast food restaurants suffered 13 percent more strokes than people who lived near just 12 fast food joints. Also, the relative risk of the deadly stroke rose by one percent for each additional fast-food restaurant in a neighborhood.

 

“The data showed a true association or definite relationship, between unhealthy food and stroke. What we don't know is whether fast food actually increased the risk because of its contents, or whether fast-food restaurants are a marker of unhealthy neighborhoods,” Morgenstern said.

 

The study was funded by the US National Institutes of Health.

 

According to the American Heart Association, about 780,000 people suffer a new or a recurrent stroke every year.