The Los Angeles City Council has approved a law that bans fast-food restaurants from opening in South LA. People who live in this area have the largest obesity problems. Approximately one in 3 children from South LA is obese, compared to one in five in the rest of the city.

The main thing responsible for this condition is poverty, as well as the fact that 73 percent of the restaurants in the southern part of the city are fast-food ones and offer meals that are high in calories and cholesterol.

The new law will ban the opening of any fast-food restaurants for a year, but there is the possibility that this period will be increased to two years. According to the new law, “any establishment which dispenses food for consumption on or off the premises, and which has the following characteristics: a limited menu, items prepared in advance or prepared or heated quickly, no table orders and food served in disposable wrapping or containers" is considered to be a fast-food restaurant.

As expected, the new law was received with criticism by fast-food companies, who argued that many of them offer healthy food too, and that it is the consumer's decision to buy junk food. According to them, banning fast-food restaurants is an unfair decision.

However, studies have shown that increasing the number of places where people can buy healthy food in a certain area reduces or at least stabilizes the number of people that suffer from obesity in that area as well.

The new law that was approved by the LA City Council also encourages groceries and restaurants that offer healthy food to open for business in South LA.