This is Scientific American's 60 Second Science.

I'm Gretchen Kuda Kroyen.

Got a minute?

Does it feel like everywhere you turn there's more food, fast food joints like McDonald's

and Taco Bell abound, and big box stores like

Costco, Walmart, and Target sell mounds of groceries. Just the slightest pang of hunger and around

the corner there's another restaurant or retailer enticing us to buy more food.

Now a study finds that the sheer availability of all this food may be a big part of what

is making us fat.

Charles Court Munch, assistant professor in the School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, says that the steady rise in obesity rates is due in large part to the constant incentives to eat.

Court Munch and his colleagues built a statewide model of economic conditions that influence body weight.

Things like income and unemployment, food prices, retail outlet presence, as well as gasoline prices prices and the prevalence of fitness centers.

Their data showed that the presence of super centers, warehouse clubs and restaurants are responsible

for more than 40% of the rise in obesity.

The report was published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

So if you're trying to shed a few pounds

and you happen to be looking for a new place to live,

pick the house closer to the gym over the one near the Walmart.

Thanks for the minute.

For Scientific American's 60 Second Science, I'm Gretchen Kuda Kroyen.