LA's fast food ban didn't lower obesity in poor areas because people just went elsewhere for unhealthy food, study finds

The Daily Mail reports:

The South Los Angeles fast-food ban did not decrease obesity in poor neighborhoods because residents found unhealthy food at restaurants in strip malls and convenience stores instead, a new study has found.

In 2008, a dietary ordinance targeted a 32-square-mile area south of Interstate 10 that struggles with high obesity rates and other health problems.

The ban went into effect in South Los Angeles and restricted the opening or expansion of standalone fast-food restaurants.

However, the law, believed to be the first effort of its kind by a major city to improve public health, did not ban new fast food restaurants in strip malls.

If only LA could test market based health insurance where individuals had and incentive to not eat too much....