The study abstract says:
An additional Supercenter per 100,000 residents increases average BMI by 0.24 units and the obesity rate by 2.3% points. These results imply that the proliferation of Walmart Supercenters explains 10.5% of the rise in obesity since the late 1980s, but the resulting increase in medical expenditures offsets only a small portion of consumers' savings from shopping at Supercenters.
This allegation could be leveled at any large seller of food, especially fast food joints that sell, basically, fatty, salty pseudo-meat products on highly processed quasi-breadlike substances and then slather it all in mayonnaise.But, as the largest seller of food in America, Wal-Mart deserves a big part of the blame in making crappy food cheap and good food more expensive.
Then again, there needs to be a national program in our schools to teach kids how to eat more healthy diets and the importance of regular exercise.