All but one of Ohio’s 88 counties exceed the national benchmark for percentage of fast food restaurants, and in Athens County in particular, many people are more likely to choose grease over grains.
Sixty-eight percent of restaurants in Athens County are considered fast food establishments, according to the 2013 County Health Rankings, a study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The national benchmark is 27 percent.
Athens County has one of the highest percentages of fast food restaurants of any county in the state, and many of the other counties exceeding the national benchmark do so by more than 30 percent.
The high percentage of fast food restaurants in Athens could be attributed to the population size, income and proximity to Ohio University, Athens County Commissioner Lenny Eliason said.
Morgan County, one of Athens’ neighboring counties, is the only county in Ohio that meets the national benchmark at 25 percent.
Fifty-two percent of restaurants in Wood County, a county close in size to Athens and located in northwest Ohio, are considered fast food restaurants.
Fifty-nine percent of food establishments in Franklin County, where the state’s capital is located, are considered fast food. Cuyahoga County, home of Cleveland, has 54 percent of its restaurants considered fast food.
“For our measure of fast foods, we use the Census County Business Patterns,” Amanda Jovaag, data lead for The County Health Rankings, said in an email. “This data set categorizes businesses using (North American Industry Classification System) codes.”
United States Census Bureau categorizes fast food restaurants as “Limited-Service Restaurants.”
The term characterizes restaurants where “patrons generally order or select items and pay before eating. Food and drink may be consumed on premises, taken out or delivered to (the) customers’ location,” according to the Census Bureau website.
This does not include cafeterias or snack bars, Jovaag said.
Ruth Dudding of the Health Education branch of the Athens City-County Health Department estimated that the majority of the fast food restaurants in the county are located in Athens and Nelsonville.
“People have to make dollars stretch a little farther (in Athens),” she said. “We can, as consumers, influence what these restaurants offer by what we’re willing to buy.”
Charles Hammer, administrator of the Athens City-County Health Department, added that grocery stores must also offer healthy choices for consumers; however, if fast food is closer than a store that sells whole food, it is very possible people will opt for the former.
“It really comes down a lot to what choices people are making,” Hammer said. “We’re trying several approaches to dealing with this issue.”
Some programs in Athens include the Food is Elementary program by Live Healthy Appalachia, which educates elementary school students about healthy foods. Officials hope the education will be passed on to the rest of their families, Hammer said.
Athens residents can also benefit from Complete Health Improvement Program, locally grown products and more resources available across the county, Dudding said.
“(If you) see a statistic, it really doesn’t tell the whole story,” she said. “(There are) so many resources and collaborations that want to see change in our health.”
kf398711@ohiou.edu
