A new RAND Corporation study has criticized the inept of a Los Angeles ordinance touted to significantly bring down obesity rates in low-income areas by putting restrictions on opening of new fast-food restaurants. The law has so far scattered on the ground and has not reduced fast-food consumption or obesity rates in the targeted neighborhoods.

The study results showed that since the fast-food restrictions were passed in 2008, the rates of overweight and obesity in South Los Angeles and other neighborhoods have witnessed a rise faster than in other parts of the city or other parts of the county. Findings of the study have been published online by the journal Social Science & Medicine.

Roland Sturm, lead author of the study and senior economist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization, said symbolic value of the South Los Angeles fast food ban can’t be trivialized, but it has so far failed to have any impact on improving diets or reducing obesity. “This should not come as a surprise: Most food outlets in the area are small food stores or small restaurants with limited seating that are not affected by the policy”, said Sturm.

Being a zoning regulation, the policy does not allow the opening or expansion of any stand-alone food restaurant in Baldwin Hills, Leimert Park, and portions of South Los Angeles and Southeast Los Angeles. About 70,000 people reside in the areas subject to the rule.

The rule was not the nation’s first local regulation limiting fast-food outlets, but it was certainly the first presented as a public health measure by advocates.

The researchers studied weight trends across the city and determined that from 2007 to 2012, both obesity and being overweight increased in all areas. The rise was particularly higher in all areas since the ban was brought into effect.