Study Finds Fast Food Clusters Near Chicago Schools

From: Chicago Tribune

August 23, 2005

By Diane Rado
Tribune staff reporter

The Doritos, Cheetos, chocolate bars and soda pop have been yanked from vending machines at the old Orr High School in Chicago, part of the city school system's efforts to purge junk food from schools.

But walk about 100 steps from the school complex, now called The Campus, and you're at Burger King, where students flock before and after school to indulge in 800-calorie Whoppers with cheese and other fast-food favorites.

In the battle against childhood obesity, well-intentioned government policies that encourage healthy eating face a daunting challenge from the proliferation of fast-food establishments right outside the schoolhouse door, a new Chicago-based study shows.

The median distance from any Chicago school to the nearest fast-food restaurant is about a third of a mile -- a walk of little more than 5 minutes for an adult -- according to the study by Boston researchers, published today in the American Journal of Public Health.

Almost 80 percent of public and private schools in Chicago had at least one fast-food restaurant within about a half mile, exposing children to "poor-quality food environments in their school neighborhoods,'' according to the researchers from Children's Hospital Boston and the Harvard School of Public Health.

"The concentration of fast-food restaurants around schools within a short walking distance for students is an important public health concern…that may undermine public health efforts to improve nutritional behaviors in young people,'' the study concludes.

The study prompted Gov. Rod Blagojevich to renew his efforts to ban junk food and soda from school vending machines statewide, a 2003 initiative that failed to muster enough legislative support to pass.

The governor has asked the Illinois State Board of Education to develop legislation or rules that would ban or reduce school junk food, or create statewide nutritional guidelines for vending machine fare, said Elliot Regenstein, the governor's director of education reform.

But as the new research points out, government intervention inside a school building doesn't impact what happens outside.

The study found 79 fast-food restaurant chains clustered around some 1,300 Chicago schools. McDonald's restaurants made up 16 percent of the 613 fast-food sites, followed by Subway, Dunkin' Donuts, KFC, Burger King, and other chains.

Parents and students who were at The Campus this week for high school orientation had a mixed reaction to the study. Students said they prefer the Burger King across the street at North Pulaski and West Chicago to healthier foods, such as granola bars, now in their school vending machines.

Adonis Jones, a junior, said his favorite is a Whopper meal, and he doesn't pay attention to the more than 1,000 calories he's consuming.

"If I'm hungry, I just get something to eat,'' he said.

James Brooks, a parent of a freshman, said some school cafeteria menus he has seen look no healthier than the burgers and fries at a fast-food restaurant.

And Mary Barnes, another parent of a freshman, said she is a working mother who doesn't always have time to cook supper. So, she doesn't mind her daughter grabbing a burger after school.

McDonald's criticized the study, saying researchers did not link the density of fast-food restaurants around schools to schoolchildren's diets, calorie intake and other nutritional patterns.

In addition, McDonald's Vice President Walt Riker said in a written statement, "Common sense will tell you that most any restaurant is located in commercialized areas, where you'll also find grocery stores, banks, shopping malls, dry cleaners and gas stations; locales in higher traffic areas that are accessible to all consumers. Schools have nothing to do with it.''

"The fact is, there is a world of choice and variety at McDonald's. We offer quality food across the menu and provide comprehensive nutrition information, all on behalf of our customers,'' Riker said.

The Burger King across from The Campus does offer a healthy option – a veggie burger, 340 calories without mayonnaise -- but restaurant workers say students aren't asking for it.