Policy Pick: L.A. to Ban Fast-Food Eateries in South Los Angeles

Proposed by L.A. City Councilmember Jan Perry of the Ninth Council District, the moratorium is part of a growing effort by cities and school districts across the country to address the obesity epidemic and will bar fast-food restaurants from opening in South Los Angeles for a year, with two possible six-month extensions. The ban covers a 32-square mile area and would affect 700,000 residents.

A recent analysis by the Los Angeles Times shows that of the city's 8,200 restaurants, South L.A. has the highest concentration of fast-food eateries at 45 percent, and, in just one quarter of a mile, there are approximately 20 fast-food outlets. The health implications are considerable, especially for children. According to the Department of Health, 29 percent of children in South L.A. are obese, in comparison to 23.3 percent throughout Los Angeles County.

In a series of articles covering the issue of child obesity in May, Time magazine compared caloric intake for kids in 2008 to the 1950s when kids had three cups of milk for every cup of soda - a ratio that is today reversed. The magazine goes on to state that, "In the era of the 64-oz. soda, the 1,200-calorie burger and the 700-calorie Frappuccino, food companies now produce enough each day for every American to consume a belt-popping 3,800 calories per day, never mind that even an adult needs only 2,350 to survive." The articles stress the importance of reigning in the national obesity epidemic to ensure the well-being of children as they grow into adulthood.

The L.A. City Council moratorium was delivered a week after the Federal Trade Commission released a report stating that the nation's largest food and beverage companies spent approximately $1.6 billion in 2006 in marketing their products to children - mainly soda, fast-food and cereal. The biggest category — $492 million — was spent on advertising carbonated-beverages, which pails in comparison to the $67 million spent on milk ads in 2006 by the Milk Processor Education Program.

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