Eating Fast Food Increases Heart Disease, Diabetes Risk

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL, Minn.People who eat fast food two to three times a week increase their risk of dying from coronary heart disease by 50% and increase their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 27% compared to people who avoid fast food, according to a new study published in the journal Circulation.

The findings suggest just eating fast food once a week increases CVD risk by 20%, and the risk climbs to nearly 80% for people who consume fast food items four or more times each week.

University of Minnesota School of Public Health researchers examined examine the association of Western-style fast food with cardio-metabolic risk in a Chinese population in Southeast Asia that has become a hotbed for diabetes and heart disease

What we found was a dramatic public health impact by fast food, a product that is primarily a Western import into a completely new market," said the studys lead researcher, University of Minnesota post-doctoral researcher Andrew Odegaard, Ph.D., M.P.H.

The researchers worked alongside researchers from the National University of Singapore to examine results of a study conducted over a 16-year period beginning in 1993, which looked at the eating habits of 52,000 Chinese residents of Singapore who have experienced a recent and sudden transition from traditional foods to Western-style fast food.

Whats interesting about the results is that study participants who reported eating fast food most frequently were younger, better educated, smoked less and were more likely to be physically active," said Odegaard. This profile is normally associated with lower cardio-metabolic risk."

According to the studys senior researcher, Mark Pereira, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the School of Public Healths Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, the new research provides an important perspective on global health and the nutrition transfer when cultures developing in different parts of the world start moving away from their traditional diet and mode of exercise.

The big picture is that this [fast food] aspect of globalization and exportation of U.S. and Western culture might not be the best thing to spread to cultures around the world," he said. Global public health efforts should focus on maintaining the positive aspects of traditional cultures, while preventing the spread of outside influences thought to be harmful based on the scientific evidence."