NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children who live in dangerous neighborhoods are more likely to be overweight than those who live in safer environments, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that 7-year-olds whose parents felt their neighborhood was unsafe were up to four times more likely than other children to be overweight. The study did not investigate the reasons for the link, but the researchers suspect that fearful parents may often keep their children from playing outdoors, which limits their amount of physical activity.