By Sharin Hussain via SWNS
Living close to a pub or fast food outlet is bad for your heart, according to new research using UK data.
People living near a boozer or takeaway are more likely to develop heart failure, say scientists.
Study senior author Doctor Lu Qi, of Tulane University, said: “Most previous research on the relation between nutrition and human health has been focused on food quality while neglecting the impact of the food environment.
“Our study highlights the importance of accounting for the food environment in nutrition research.”
The study found that there is a strong correlation between people who don’t have a college degree and those living in urban areas without access to gyms which might risk their heart health.
Fast food places and pubs typically provide junk foods and sugary drinks and are now linked to cardiovascular diseases.
Heart failure is a condition where the heart muscle can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen.
The research, published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Heart Failure, assessed data from the UK Biobank of more than half a million adults ages 37 to 73 in England, Wales and Scotland.
This was during March 2006 and October 2010, and the follow-up was in May 2021.
The study documented nearly 13,000 heart failure cases during that period, recorded through national electronic health-related datasets.
They measured the pubs or bars, cafeterias and fast-food restaurants by a distance of one kilometer or a 15-minute walk and by a number of food outlets in that same distance.
The analysis found that closer proximity and a greater number of ready-to-eat food outlets were associated with an elevated risk of heart failure.
The study found that ready-to-eat food outlets in that distance had 11 or more available, causing a 16 percent greater risk of heart failure compared to those with no ready-to-eat food environments near their homes.
Those in close proximity to pubs and bars showed a 14 percent higher risk for heart failure; while those in the highest density areas for fast-food outlets had a 12 percent higher risk.
Dr. Qi added: “Previous studies have suggested that exposure to ready-to-eat food environments is associated with risks of other disorders, such as Type 2 diabetes and obesity, which may also increase the risk of heart failure.”
The study suggests that adding accessible gyms and fitness facilities, along with helping more people with health education could reduce the increased risk of heart failure linked to quick-meal options.
Professor Elissa Driggin and Ersilia DeFilippis of Columbia University Medical Center in New York said: “Given the clear association between black race and high incidence of heart failure as compared to white patients, as well as associations with worse heart failure outcomes, attention to the food environment in this high-risk population is of the utmost importance.
“It has already been demonstrated that compared to predominantly white neighborhoods, there are significantly fewer supermarkets in predominantly black neighborhoods, which are likely to be inversely associated with ready-to-eat food environments.”
Taxes and financial incentives are not directed toward encouraging the purchase of healthy foods, improving the healthfulness of local food environments or ensuring the health of children and future generations, according to the 2023 Association Presidential advisory.
Eduardo Sanchez, the Association’s chief medical officer for prevention said: “Consuming a healthy diet is too hard for too many people.
“Structural racism and factors that contribute to poverty mean that historically excluded people suffer the consequences of poor-quality diets at disproportionate levels.
“For over a century, we’ve saved and improved lives at the American Heart Association and will continue to focus on initiatives like this in our next 100 years by ensuring everyone, everywhere enjoys their healthiest lives.”
