Property values linked to obesity rates

A little while back I questioned the spuriousness of the supposed relationship between diet soda and weight gain. To me, at least, it seemed as though too many outside variables were not controlled for, resulting in a questionable correlation and an even less likely causal relationship. Thankfully, my hope in statistics was restored when I recently came across a study linking property value and obesity rates.

Based on a study published in Social Science & Medicine, researchers who examined 9,000 Seattle residents discovered that property values were a better predictor of obesity rates than income, race, or education. In the more costly parts of the city (where most home prices hovered around $585,000), only about 10 percent of residents were obese. In areas of the city where home prices were lower (averaging around $319,000), obesity rates were higher than 20 percent.

This could be attributed to several factors, a few of which are the high cost of eating healthy, the expense of gym and health club memberships, and that most higher-income neighborhoods tend to have fewer-food restaurants in their locale.