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Los Angeles is after your burger and fries. That, at least, was the point of a bill passed at the end of July that puts moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in the city. The ban remains controversial. Proponents of the moratorium say that there are few options for lower income families in poorer neighborhoods and that most are unfairly targeted by restaurant chains. Opponents, who range from sociologists to trade groups, contend that the causes of obesity are often complex and cannot be attributed to any one cause.

Jan Perry, the city council woman who called for the ban, made the recommendation after a report showed that about 30 percent of children living in her district, which has the city's highest concentration of fast-food restaurants, are obese. The rate in the rest of the city is closer to 21 percent. While there is wide community support for the measure, Perry maintains that the goal is not to ban fast-food restaurants outright but to allow healthier establishments to open in the area.

California has led the way in legislation aimed at improving consumer health through buying habits. It was the first state to ban trans-fats in restaurants and outlawed the sale of soft drinks in elementary and middle schools. Recently, the state legislature considered a a bill that would force restaurants with twenty or more stores to put calorie counts on all menus.

Trade groups are bracing for a flood of similar legislation around the country.