Fast food and deprivation in Nova Scotia.

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between density of fast food restaurants and measures of social and material deprivation at the community level in Nova Scotia, Canada. METHODS Census information on population and key variables required for the calculation of deprivation indices were obtained for 266 communities in Nova Scotia. The density of fast food restaurants per 1000 individuals for each community was calculated and communities were divided into quintiles of material and psychosocial deprivation. One-way analysis of variance was used to investigate associations between fast food outlet densities and deprivation scores at the community level. RESULTS A statistically significant inverse association was found between community-level material deprivation and the mean number of fast food restaurants per 1000 people for Nova Scotia (p < 0.000). Significant positive relationships were found between density of fast food restaurants and psychosocial deprivation (p < 0.000). Both associations were principally linear with greater fast food outlet density occurring as material deprivation decreased and as psychosocial deprivation increased. INTERPRETATION Community-level deprivation in Nova Scotia is associated with fast food outlet density and lends support for environmental explanations for variations in the prevalence of obesity. Such findings are valuable to population health intervention initiatives targeting the modification of environmental determinants of obesity.