Childhood obesity has become one of the most serious global health challenges of our time. The combined prevalence of overweight and obesity has rapidly increased worldwide during the last two decades, especially in some developing countries where obesity is reaching levels on a par with some industrialized countries, or even higher. This fast growth has occurred especially in countries in the midst of rapid social-economic transitions. Most international comparisons focus on the adult population while analyses focusing on the child population are more limited. Using the methodology developed by Phillips and Sul, this paper studies the worldwide evolution of children’s body mass index (BMI), overweight and obesity prevalence for a large sample of countries during the period 1975–2016. Our results indicate that the figures for BMI or the prevalence of obesity in different countries do not converge, while the opposite is the case for overweight prevalence in children. Furthermore, there is a non-linear relationship between obesity and income or human capital, indicating that low and middle-income countries require a strong initiative for health policies targeting obesity prevention.

This paper studies the regional consumption of household water in Spain in the period 2000–2018. The use of the methodology proposed by Phillips and Sul allows us to conclude that there is no single pattern of behavior across the Spanish regions. By contrast, we can determine the existence of three convergence clubs, confirming serious regional disparities in water consumption. Navarra, País Vasco, La Rioja, and Cataluña are included in the convergence club that shows the lowest levels of household water consumption, while the Islas Canarias, Comunidad Valenciana, Castilla y León and Cantabria belong to that with the highest consumption. The determinants of the forces that drive these convergence clubs are difficult to identify because the demographic, economic and structural variables of the network interact in different ways. Nevertheless, we can select a group of explanatory variables that help to explain the formation of the convergence clubs. These are regional household income, the birth rate in the regions, and the regional spending on environmental protection. Increments in the levels of these variables are helpful for reducing household water consumption.

Infant obesity has become one of the most serious global health challenges of our time. The combined prevalence of overweight and obesity has rapidly increased worldwide during the last two decades, especially in some developing countries where obesity is reaching levels on a par with some industrialized countries, or even higher. This fast growth has occurred especially in countries in the midst of rapid social-economic transitions. Most international comparisons focus on the adult population while analyses focusing on the child population are more limited. Using the methodology developed by Phillips and Sul [1], this paper studies the worldwide evolution of infant body mass index (BMI), overweight and obesity prevalence for a large sample of countries during the period 1975-2016. Our results indicate that the figures for BMI or the prevalence of obesity in different countries do not converge, while the opposite is the case for overweight prevalence in children. Furthermore, there is a non-linear relationship between obesity and income or human capital, indicating that low and middle-income countries require a strong initiative for health policies targeting obesity prevention.

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