Amid worries of an obesity epidemic and its related illnesses, Los Angeles officials, among others around the country, are proposing to limit new fast-food restaurants.
The tactic, which could be called health zoning, is designed to contain obesity, diabetes and heart attack that are linked with fast-food.
The City Council will be asked this fall to consider an up to two-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in parts of the city, where fast food is at least as much a practicality as a preference, the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday.
"The people don't want them, but when they don't have any other options, they may gravitate to what's there," said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who proposed the ordinance in June, and whose district includes portions of South L.A. that would be affected by the plan.
Among the city's roughly 8,200 restaurants, most fast-food restaurants are centered in South Los Angeles, according to the paper.
Thirty percent of adults in South L.A. are obese, compared with 20.9 percent in the county overall, according to a county Department of Public Health study released in April.
For children, the obesity rate was 29 percent in South L.A., compared with 23.3 percent in the county.
"While limiting fast-food restaurants isn't a solution in itself, it's an important piece of the puzzle," said Mark Vallianatos, director of the Center for Food and Justice at Occidental College.
This is "bringing health policy and environmental policy together with land-use planning," he said. "I think that's smart, and it's the wave of the future."
Source: Xinhua
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