Neighborhoods with more fast food outlets are also neighborhoods with more heart disease and death, a new study finds.

And, it doesn't matter how rich or poor a neighborhood might be. The relationship between fast food and adverse outcomes was the same, the study found.

The research was done by the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences (ICES).

It says the findings are a wake-up call for everyone.

"Our study sends a strong message at a time when obesity rates in adults and children are rising rapidly across the nation," said ICES scientist, Dr. David Alter.

The study, which is being published in the May issue of the Canadian Journal of Public Health, looked at food chains in one province, Ontario.

"While our study focused on Ontario, our findings carry a critical message that can be generalized across regions in Canada and other jurisdictions where fast food is readily available," Alter said.

In its press release Wednesday, ICES says there is "an urgent need" for Canadians to think about what they eat, since fast food is so "readily available and easy, given the busy lifestyles people lead."

For the study, researchers looked at 380 regions across Ontario. And, using a list of what they determined were the top nine fast food chains in 2001, they calculated the per capita rate of those fast food outlets.

Then they compared the data they'd gathered to per capita mortality rates in each region, and to the rate of hospitalization for acute coronary syndromes such as chest pains and heart attacks.

They found that areas with greater numbers of fast-food services had higher rates of hospital admissions and death for coronary problems.

The ICES study found that a region with 10-19 fast food outlets per 100,000 people saw its mortality rate go up by 35 cases per 100,000 over the normal rate.

And, a region with 20 or more outlets saw its mortality rate go up, over the norm, by 62 cases per 100,000.

When it comes to cases of heart attacks and chest pains, the ICES study found similar results.

Areas with 10-19 fast food outlets per 100,000 people saw an increase in hospitalization of 28 per 100,000.

Meanwhile, areas with 20 or more fast food outlets saw their hospitalization rate jump by 47 cases per 100,000.

Alter says his group would like to see more being done to promote healthy eating, and healthy lifestyles.

"There needs to be disincentives put in place to curtail fast-food demand and promote the consumption of healthier food in high-mortality regions," he said.

And, he said, there is a particular need to have "targetted health promotion and prevention strategies to communities with the poorest health profiles and the poorest lifestyle behaviours."