Have it Your Way, By Lori Randall

"The prevalance of obesity in children has increased threefold or more during the last 3 decades, raising serious public health concerns. A number of environmental factors undoubtedly have contributed to this epidemic. The present study suggests that fast-food consumption may be one such factor. . . These within-subject comparisons provide a high level of confidence that the associations between fast food and dietary factors are causally related and not the consequence of confounding by unrecognized or incompletely controlled socioeconomic or demographic factors." --

“The odds of becoming obese over a 15-year period increased by 86% among young white adults . . . visiting fast-food restaurants more than twice per week, compared with those visiting fast-food restaurants less than once per week”

Both quotations from Ludwig, D.S., Bowman, S.A., Gortmaker, S.L., Ebbeling, C.B., & Pereira, M.A. (2004). Children in a National Household SurveyEffects of Fast-Food Consumption on Energy Intake and Diet Quality Among Children. Pediatrics, 10, 112-118.