Having a convenience store close to a school may lead to students who are more overweight, a study suggests.
A study funded by Michigan State University and published in BMC Public Health concluded that the presence of a convenience store within a 10-minute walking distance of a school was associated with a higher rate of overweight students. On the other hand, nearby fast-food restaurants and supermarkets were not associated with school rates of overweight students.
The study looked at the rate of overweight ninth-grade students in California from 2007. The analysis, controlled for ethnic and socioeconomic factors, indicated that schools within 800 meters of convenience stores had higher rates of overweight students than schools farther from these retailers.
