No McDonalds for You: NYC Councilman

Gioia wants to keep fast food away from schools

A New York City councilman wants to keep school kids away from fast food -- or at least keep the fast food restaurants away from them.
    
Councilman Eric Gioia is unveiling a proposal that would prohibit fast food restaurants from being within one-tenth of a mile of a school. The idea comes after a study this month found students whose schools are within easy walking distance of fast food restaurants are more likely to be obese.
    
The study by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University found that students at schools in close proximity to fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut had a 5.2 increase in the incidence of obesity.
    
Gioia, a Queens Democrat, is scheduled to release the details of his plan at noon on Sunday.

This isn't the first time a city politician has endeavored to make the city a healthier place.

In Feburary, Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer released a report calling for new tax and zoning incentives to get markets to stock healthier food.
    
The report also sought to require city agencies to buy 20 percent of their food from local farmers and recommends restricting the number of fast-food restaurants in newly established "food enterprise zones.''
    
Stringer says the city must examine the way food is bought, sold, cooked and eaten.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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