Researchers have found a strong between fast food and obesity in what appears to be the first long-term study on this subject.

The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study by Mark Pereira, Ph.D., assistant professor in epidemiology, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Obesity Program at Children's Hospital Boston, reported that fast food increases the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The results of this 15-year study will be published in the Jan. 1 issue of The Lancet.

Participants in the study who consumed fast food two or more times a week gained approximately 10 more pounds and had twice as great increase in insulin resistance over a 15-year period as participants who consumed fast food less than once per week.

"Fast-food consumption has increased in the United States during the past three decades," said Mark Pereira, Ph.D., assistant professor in epidemiology, University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

"While there have been many discussions about fast-food's effects on obesity, this appears to be the first scientific, comprehensive long-term study to show a strong connection between fast-food consumption, obesity, and risk for type 2 diabetes," Pereira added.

Results of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study were published in the Jan. 1 issue of The Lancet.

Fast-food frequency was lowest for white women (about 1.3 times per week) compared with the other ethnic and gender groups (about twice a week). Frequency was higher in African-Americans than in whites and in men than in women for every examination year.

Other sources: The Lancet