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Living Near Fast Food Restaurants Could Affect Heart Health, New Study

(FILES) A driver in a vehicle places his order from a drive-thru lane at a Wendy's fast food resturant in Alhambra, California on May 5, 2020. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
(FILES) A driver in a vehicle places his order from a drive-thru lane at a Wendy's fast food resturant in Alhambra, California on May 5, 2020. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
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Living Near Fast Food Restaurants Could Affect Heart Health, New Study

(FILES) A driver in a vehicle places his order from a drive-thru lane at a Wendy's fast food resturant in Alhambra, California on May 5, 2020. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
(FILES) A driver in a vehicle places his order from a drive-thru lane at a Wendy's fast food resturant in Alhambra, California on May 5, 2020. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)

A new British study, involving 500,000 adults, has found that living near fast food restaurants could harm the health of the heart.

These kinds of ready-to-eat food environments typically provide unhealthy foods and drinks, and have been linked to cardiovascular diseases, mostly heart failure. The findings were published in Circulation, an American Heart Association journal.

Heart failure is a condition in which the heart muscle can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen. In this case, fluids can accumulate in the lungs, causing shortness of breath. This condition can lead to narrowing the heart arteries and raising blood pressure.

This study is likely the first to assess the association between food environment and heart failure with long-term observation, according to the researchers.

The study involved more than 500,000 adults, ages 37-73 years old, in the UK.

During the research, the team measured the link between living within one-kilometer from three types of food environments — pubs or bars, restaurants or cafeterias and fast-food restaurants.

The study documented nearly 13,000 heart failure cases during a 12-year follow-up period.

The analysis found that a closer proximity and a greater density of ready-to-eat food outlets were associated with a 16% risk of heart failure compared to those with no ready-to-eat food environments near their homes.

It also found that those in the highest density areas of pubs and bars showed a 14% higher risk for heart failure; while those in the highest density areas for fast-food outlets had a 12% higher risk.

Heart failure risk was stronger among participants without a college degree and adults in urban areas without access to formal physical activity facilities such as gyms.

According to the researchers, these findings add to previous studies that have suggested that exposure to ready-to-eat food environments is associated with risks of other disorders, such as Type 2 diabetes and obesity, which may also increase the risk of heart failure.

Authors said the findings suggest that improving access to healthier food environments and physical fitness facilities in urban areas, along with helping more people attain higher levels of education, could reduce the increased risk of heart failure linked to quick-meal options.

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Nepal Community Efforts Revive Red Panda Population 

This picture taken on February 5, 2025, shows a red panda at the central zoo in Lalitpur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. (AFP)
This picture taken on February 5, 2025, shows a red panda at the central zoo in Lalitpur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. (AFP)
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Nepal Community Efforts Revive Red Panda Population 

This picture taken on February 5, 2025, shows a red panda at the central zoo in Lalitpur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. (AFP)
This picture taken on February 5, 2025, shows a red panda at the central zoo in Lalitpur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. (AFP)

Nepali police officer Jiwan Subba still feels pangs of regret decades after he bludgeoned a strange creature he found wandering in his barn, not realizing it was an endangered red panda.

Red pandas may share a similar name to giant pandas -- due to their bamboo diet -- but the copper-hued mammals with raccoon-like features are much smaller, typically the size of a house cat.

"I was 17 and had no idea what it was. Nobody in our village even knew," Subba, now 48, told AFP.

Today, he is not only aware of the red panda's vulnerability but is actively involved in its protection -- reflecting a broader shift in attitudes spurred by Nepal's extensive community awareness programs.

"I once took a life out of ignorance, but now I work to prevent others from making the same mistake," he said.

"People now understand that red pandas are a protected species."

Officials say that Nepal's pioneering community-based conservation work has helped arrest the decline of the cute but skittish bamboo-eaters, which number fewer than 10,000 globally.

Red Panda Network, an organization leading global efforts to conserve the animal, estimates between 500 and 1,000 of the species live in Nepal.

That is an almost certain increase from an estimated population of somewhere between 300 and 600 by the Himalayan republic's wildlife department in 2011.

"Now, villagers say they can see three or four red pandas on the same day," Red Panda Network's Ang Phuri Sherpa told AFP.

- 'Undisturbed' -

Conservationists say that educational outreach combined with sustainable livelihood programs has helped improve the effectiveness of Nepal's conservation efforts.

In eastern Nepal, Indigenous inhabitants of the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area switched from raising livestock to cultivating nettle plants to minimize disturbances to red panda habitats.

"We have stopped foraging in the forest so red pandas remain undisturbed," said Chandra Kumari Limbu, a local working on conservation efforts.

Instead, the rhythmic clap of looms now fills the village from women weaving nettle fabric into school bags, wallets and clothing.

"This has empowered women here who did not have an income before. And at the same time we are letting red pandas thrive," Limbu told AFP.

Nepal last year also declared a new conservation zone in the country's east to protect red pandas.

The Puwamajhuwa Community Red Panda Conservation Area, spanning 116 hectares (287 acres), has dedicated anti-poaching and smuggling control committees with local involvement.

- Poaching and infrastructure -

Nepali authorities have confiscated 33 red panda hides from smugglers in the past five years, a drop from 70 hides from 2011-15.

"The number of red panda hides being smuggled has significantly come down, mainly due to weaker smuggling networks and lower profits," police spokesperson Dinesh Kumar Acharya told AFP.

Nepal has strict punishments for poachers of protected species, including prison sentences of up to 10 years.

Conservationists warn however that many poaching incidents go undetected or unpunished.

Red panda hides are mainly smuggled to China and Myanmar for their supposed medicinal qualities and aesthetic value, according to police.

Their copper-colored fur, cherubic appearance and small size also make them easy candidates for the exotic pet trade.

According to an assessment from the International Union for Conservation for Nature (IUCN), interest in red pandas as pets may have grown partly because of the preponderance of "cute" images of the animals shared on social media.

The IUCN has listed the mammal as an endangered species since 2016 and says they face high risk of extinction due to habitat loss.

Sherpa of the Red Panda Network said growing infrastructure development in Nepal was posing further challenges for conservation efforts.

"Road networks, hydroelectricity, transmission lines and cable car construction is going on, and because of these, habitats have been fragmented," he said.

Residents in Taplejung district, a key red panda habitat, are currently protesting the mass felling of thousands of trees for a new cable car project aimed at promoting tourism in the area.

"The government should take extra cautious measures when constructing large infrastructure projects," local conservationist Rajindra Mahat told AFP.

"It is an endangered species worldwide, so it is our shared responsibility to protect it."