CC1, your theory about blue denium whales at Wal-Mart might be in question now.
Sep 9 2008 2:58PM EDT
The Wal-Mart Diet
Now, a new study finds
no evidence that the proliferation of Wal-Mart stores, many of which are packed with cheap processed foods,
has led to weight gains. In fact, the existence of a big box retailer in an area seems to actually decrease weight slightly.
Charles Courtemanche from University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Art Carden of Rhodes College in Tennessee looked at county-level data on big box stores (different versions of Wal-Mart stores as well as Costcos) and survey data which captured residents' demographic information as well as eating, shopping, smoking, drinking, and exercising habits. They found that one additional regular Wal-Mart store (which doesn't sell groceries) was associated with a drop of 0.5 pounds for a person of the average height. An additional Super Wal-Mart, which does sell groceries, was associated with a weight drop of 0.18 pounds.
http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs...-wal-mart-diet