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 food providers, which include the grocery supermarkets, have been more responsive in providing and increasing their range healthier eating products. Research has shown that these non-fast food outlets increase the local population's intake of healthy foods such as fresh fruit and vegetables whereas the fast food outlets had the opposite effect.
Thirdly, there was the issue of concentration. Because of their pricing structure fast food outlets have been flourishing in the poorer areas of the US and, at the same time the ratio of supermarkets to population was much lower than in wealthier areas. Research has also shown that where an additional supermarket was set up in a poorer area the consumption of healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables increased by 32%.
Taking all of these factors into account, the idea behind the zoning laws was to target certain community areas and restrict the development of fast food outlets, while at the same time encouraging the development of the healthier food outlets such as grocery supermarkets and other food retailers.
There is actually a legal precedent for using the law in this manner. It the case of Cleaners Guild of Chicago v City of Chicago the judge ruled that if an activity was a danger to public health the local government had the right and power to prohibit or restrict that activity.
It can therefore be seen from this explanation that the healthy zoning laws are fighting the growing health issues resulting from fast foods by restricting their expansion within certain key vulnerable areas where their proliferation might lead to an unacceptable increase in the incidence of obesity and other health related problems.