Does Fast Food Near Schools Make Kids Fat?
By: Becky Bracken
Published: June 21, 2011

Researchers in Maine set out to find out once and for all if fast food restaurants near schools make kids fat. So they went out and asked high school students from 11 schools how much junk food they ate and measured their Body Mass Index (BMI). 
And the results are in. Fast food restaurants near schools don't make kids fat. See, the kids have to actually eat the food to get fat. 
Kids from 11 high schools filled out surveys about their eating habits. Of the 552 kids surveyed, two-thirds said they have fast food at least once a month and half drink a soda each week. But reasearchers report in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior that they found no correlation between higher denisties of fast food restaurants around the schools and the odds of kids becoming obese. 
The researchers go on to suggest nutrition education is probably a more effective obesity deterrent than focusing on the school's neigborhood environment.