Fat government, thin populace? Is the growth of obesity prevalence lower in more generous welfare states?

Vis, Barbara; Hylands, Tom

doi:10.1111/ijsw.12005

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…While higher incomes seem to reduce obesity, democracy increases it among women. The results on democracy may suggest that basic freedoms do not necessarily encourage people to be more responsible in so far as watching their waists go, as others using different data also find [29]. Indeed, the reverse is possible because democracies may in fact be more open to generating ‘high consumption’ behaviour, ceteris paribus .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Gender empowerment, inequalities and the prevalence of adult female obesity: An empirical analysis using new data, 1990–2013

Soysa

Lewin

2018

Scand J Public Health

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Aims: Do gender inequality and gender discrimination explain female obesity? Discrimination denies access to choose and constrains agency. Scope: Using the Global Burden of Disease data on overweight and obesity share of the adult female population for almost 160 countries over a 24-year period, we find that female empowerment has no effect on the population share that is overweight, but it reduces the obese share of women. The substantive impact is, however, slight and the results are not robust to testing a sample of only developing countries. Political freedoms for women in general, however, show positive effects on the prevalence of obesity, results that are again substantively meagre. Higher levels of income inequality and a measure of health inequality predict lower levels of female obesity independently of the controls, which raises some doubt about large arguments linking generalized inequality to obesogenic environments. Results: In so far as our measures of female empowerment capture greater access to rights and agency, they are poor predictors of the prevalence of obesity. The results suggest that local-level idiosyncrasies matter a lot more than do macro-level factors. Conclusions: Any conclusion should be treated tentatively given the short temporal domain examined here and uncertainties in the data. While promoting rights and equity for women are still intrinsically valuable and moral, the task of reducing obesity per se may require more targeted public action promoting healthier lifestyles and consumption among vulnerable groups.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Gender empowerment, inequalities and the prevalence of adult female obesity: An empirical analysis using new data, 1990–2013

Soysa

Lewin

2018

Scand J Public Health

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“…Obesity was considered an important welfare issue in most geographic regions, with the exception of South America and Africa (Figure 1, panel B). Excessive weight and obesity are becoming increasingly common in humans and their pets (German, 2006;Vis & Hylands, 2013) and are associated with the development of a number of diseases that reduce an animal's welfare and life span (Klinkenberg, Sallander, & Hedhammar, 2006). In contrast, anthropomorphism was apparently much more a first-world welfare issue, being significantly less of a concern in Asia, Africa, and Oceania (Figure 1, panel D).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal Welfare Worldwide, the Opinion of Practicing Veterinarians

Endenburg

Takashima²,

Lith

et al. 2020

Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science

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The objective of this study was to investigate the animal welfare issues considered the most important by companion animal veterinarians worldwide. For this purpose, a global survey of several potential animal welfare issues was distributed via SurveyMonkey® in multiple languages. The distribution of survey responses differed by region. The main animal welfare concern reported worldwide was obesity, although there were differences across regions, possibly due to cultural and socioeconomic factors. Anthropomorphism (attributing human qualities or characteristics to an animal) was an issue in western countries but less so in Asia, Africa, and Oceania. There were significant differences between Asia and Europe, Africa, and Oceania in the importance and prevalence of convenience euthanasia. There were also age and sex differences in participant responses, with older veterinarians reporting fewer welfare problems than younger veterinarians, and female veterinarians reporting more welfare issues than their male counterparts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relocation and Hair Cortisol Concentrations in New Zealand White Rabbits

Peric

Comin

Corazzin

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science

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To investigate how long relocation modified hair cortisol concentrations in New Zealand white rabbits, 19 rabbits were subjected to a change in their breeding facility at the beginning of the trial and then were kept under stable environmental conditions. Hair samples were collected at the time of arrival to the nonhuman animal facility and at 40-day intervals from the same skin area for up to 440 days after the animals' arrival to the facility. A period effect on the hair cortisol concentration was found (p < .01). The transfer of the rabbits to the new facility might have induced an increase in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity (p < .01). A second increase in hair cortisol concentration (p < .01) occurred at 320 days, after a change of personnel at the facility that occurred at 280 days, which was the only environmental change. The relocation of rabbits to the facility resulted in a stress response leading to elevated cortisol levels. The effect of relocation on mean cortisol concentrations was exhausted within 120 days when all environmental factors were kept stable.

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Fat government, thin populace? Is the growth of obesity prevalence lower in more generous welfare states?

Cited by 6 publications

References 53 publications

Gender empowerment, inequalities and the prevalence of adult female obesity: An empirical analysis using new data, 1990–2013

Gender empowerment, inequalities and the prevalence of adult female obesity: An empirical analysis using new data, 1990–2013

Animal Welfare Worldwide, the Opinion of Practicing Veterinarians

Relocation and Hair Cortisol Concentrations in New Zealand White Rabbits

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