Kelman J, et al. - Using fixed effects models, researchers investigated the impact of living in neighborhoods with greater availability of “unhealthy” food outlets—such as fast-food chain restaurants and convenience stores—on the risk of developing coronary artery calcification (CAC). The study sample consisted of 2,706 participants from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) trial in whom CAC was measured during follow-up years 15 (2000-2001), 20 (2005-2006) and 25 (2010-2011). The percentage of all food outlets that were convenience stores and fast-food chain restaurants within a 3-km Euclidean buffer distance from each participant's residence were the neighborhood features examined. At baseline, CAC was prevalent among 9.7% of participants. Over a 10-year follow-up period, 21.1% of participants developed CAC. Furthermore, the investigators found that 1-SD increase in percentage of convenience stores was linked to a 1.34 higher odds of developing CAC post-adjustment for individual- and neighborhood-level covariates—but there was no significant correlation between increased percentage of fast-food chain restaurants and CAC development. There were also no significant correlations between increases in either food-outlet percentage and progression of CAC. Overall, in this study, increases in the relative availability of convenience stores in participants' neighborhoods were related to the CAC development over time.