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In recent years the US has begun to introduce what has been termed as 'Healthy Zoning' legislation. The basic concept of these laws was to act as a barrier to high concentrations of fast food outlets within given areas of the country. Their main aim is to act as a legal tool to help the government and public health officials to win the fight against the growing prevalence of obesity.

A report commissioned in 2005, revealed that in 2004 it was estimated that approximately 9 million children in the US were overweight and that the adult obesity problem alone was costing the public health sector in excess of $100 billion per annum. Further more, despite intensive action and the introduction of health programmes specifically designed to reduce the level of the obesity problem, the problem has in fact increased dramatically in the past twenty years.

As the previously mentioned reports indicated, a government programme called 'Healthy people 2010' was set up with the express intention of achieving a significant reduction in the levels of child and adult obesity by the deadline year. However, as of 2002 the numbers of obese adults was twice that of the target levels and with children the statistics were even worse, being three times the target. Furthermore, a large percentage of the obesity problem has been affecting those from the poorer demographics of the US society.

We are all aware that obesity is generally caused by a number of factors, two of the main ones of which are an unhealthy diet and overeating. So why, with all of the food outlets and stores, did the government decide to target the new healthy zoning regulations particularly at the fast food industry? The answer is that there are three main reasons.

Firstly, although there are some people who have the kind of natural metabolism that makes them susceptible to obesity, the rapid increase has led most health and science experts to agree that the major causes for this rise can be determined as a combination of a lack of physical activity and excessive calorie and other nutritional problems. In terms of the calorie and nutritional issues, a number of scientific studies have indicated that the levels of fats, cholesterol, salts and other ingredients are excessive when compared with other food products. This, together with their large, relatively inexpensive portions, can have a dramatic impact on the tendency towards obesity in fast food consumers.

Secondly, it has also been found that other

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