Fast-food fights: News coverage of local efforts to improve food environments through land-use regulations, 2000-2013

L. Nixon, P. Mejia, L. Dorfman, A. Cheyne, S. Young, L.C. Friedman, M.A. Gottlieb and H. Wooten

American Journal of Public Health, 2015, vol. 105, issue 3, 490-496

Abstract: Zoning and other land-use policies are a promising but controversial strategy to improve community food environments. To understand how these policies are debated, we searched existing databases and the Internet and analyzed news coverage and legal documentation of efforts to restrict fast-food restaurants in 77 US communities in 2001 to 2013. Policies intended to improve community health were most often proposed in urban, racially diverse communities; policies proposed in small towns or majority-White communities aimed to protect community aesthetics or local businesses. Health-focused policies were subject to more criticism than other policies and were generally less successful. Our findings could inform the work of advocates interested in employing land-use policies to improve the food environment in their own communities.

Keywords: bibliometrics; catering service; city planning; classification; demography; environmental planning; factual database; fast food; government; government regulation; health care policy; human; Internet; legislation and jurisprudence; publication; standards; statistics and numerical data; supply and distribution; trends; United States, Bibliometrics; City Planning; Databases, Factual; Environment Design; Fast Foods; Government Regulation; Health Policy; Humans; Internet; Local Government; Newspapers; Residence Characteristics; Restaurants; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2014.302368_1

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302368

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