Blacks, less-educated more sensitive to fast food prices

By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Black and less-educated people tend to cut back on their fast food purchases when prices rise more than other consumers, according to a new study. Low fast food prices were linked to worse health – including higher weights – among those participants in particular, researchers found. "We were very interested in understanding whether fast food prices might influence fast food behavior, so if prices were high, did that reduce the number of visits to fast food restaurants," senior author Penny Gordon-Larsen told Reuters Health in an email. Gordon-Larsen is a nutrition researcher with the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.