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Obesity is projected to increase in the coming years, despite the various socioeconomic policies implemented by governments and policy makers. As a result, some studies have suggested that obesity should be looked at from a psychological point of view, that is, individuals' propensity to become addicted to the consumption of fat-rich foods. Although previous studies have supported this, the results have been inconclusive: methodologically and geographically. This study uses a robust approach to elicit the risk and time preferences of food consumers. It goes further to ascertain the correlations between these parameters and obesity. Despite the methodological and geographical differences, our results support a strong relationship between body mass index and risk aversion, but not for loss aversion. In addition, time discounting significantly influences individuals' propensity to increase body mass index.

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The UK ranks eleven among world potato producing countries with annual per capita production of about 102 kg. Since 2007, the price of potatoes has increased by 44 per cent and UK households have shown a decreasing trend on their purchases of potatoes. At the same time, retailers and manufacturers have been introducing processed potato products, which also has affected the demand for fresh potatoes. This has shifted demand from fresh potatoes to processed potatoes suggesting that consumers substitute fresh potatoes for processed ones. However, the extent to which this affect individual weekly nutritional composition is unknown. The objective of this study is to estimate the nutritional trade-offs between fresh and processed potatoes consumed in the UK using home scanner panel dataset for Great Britain in 2018. Price and expenditure elasticities were estimated using the linearized version of the Exact Affine Stone Index (EASI) Demand System. Using estimated elasticities, we analyzed the implications of substituting fresh potatoes for processed potatoes on nutrient intake. The results, in terms of the degree of substitution between fresh potatoes and processed potato products, suggest that consumers consider new potatoes baby and baking potatoes as substitutes for mashed potatoes. Maris piper potatoes and new potatoes baby are substitutes for frozen chips and other potatoes whilst white old potatoes and other vegetables and salads are complements to frozen chips and other potatoes. Finally, price reductions in the processed potatoes will increase average weekly caloric intake as well as the intakes of saturated fat and sodium. The latter has implications for public health as they are the major causes of cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers.

Despite the interest in increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables in the UK, the total average consumption is still below the recommended intakes. Evidence indicates that the UK government’s “five-a-day” policy has not been effective in reaching its goal. The results of fiscal policies (e.g., subsidies) to increase fruit and vegetable consumption are uncertain due to complex substitutions done by consumers amongst overall food choice. The goal of the present study was to estimate the prices (i.e., shadow prices) at which consumers can increase their intake of fruits and vegetables by 10% (higher than that achieved by the “five-a-day” policy) without changing the overall taste of the diet (utility). We estimated the ex-ante effect of increasing the UK’s fruit and vegetable consumption by 10% on household nutrient purchases and greenhouse gas emissions. The required changes in prices were estimated by extending the model of consumer behaviour under rationing. The model combines consumption data, demand elasticities estimated from home scan data, and nutrient coefficients for 20 foods consumed in the UK. Our results suggest that to increase vegetable and fruit consumption by 10% (under the current preferences), their prices should decline by 21% and 13%, respectively. However, there is a trade-off between nutrition and environmental goals; total average household caloric purchase declined by 11 kcal, but greenhouse gas emissions increased by 0.7 CO2-eq kg/kg of food.