The impact of income on the weight of elderly Americans

Cawley, John; Moran, John R.; Simon, Kosali

doi:10.1002/hec.1541

Cited by 70 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…For example, Cawley et al (18) used a natural experiment to conclude that income had no effect on the weight of elderly Americans. For the general US population, Variyam and Blaylock (19) found that income was negatively associated with diet quality after controlling for other sociodemographic variables because of a link between income and preferences for convenience foods, dining out and more expensive, fat-rich foods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociodemographic determinants of diet quality of the EU elderly: a comparative analysis in four countries

Irz

Fratiglioni

Kuosmanen

et al. 2013

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To investigate the sociodemographic determinants of diet quality of the elderly in four EU countries. Design: Cross-sectional study. For each country, a regression was performed of a multidimensional index of dietary quality v. sociodemographic variables. Setting: In Finland, Finnish Household Budget Survey (1998 and; in Sweden, SNAC-K (2001SNAC-K ( -2004; in the UK, Expenditure & Food Survey (2006-07); in Italy, Multi-purpose Survey of Daily Life (2009). Subjects: One-and two-person households of over-50s (Finland, n 2994; UK, n 4749); over-50 s living alone or in two-person households (Italy, n 7564); over-60 s (Sweden, n 2023).Results: Diet quality among the EU elderly is both low on average and heterogeneous across individuals. The regression models explained a small but significant part of the observed heterogeneity in diet quality. Resource availability was associated with diet quality either negatively (Finland and UK) or in a non-linear or nonstatistically significant manner (Italy and Sweden), as was the preference for food parameter. Education, not living alone and female gender were characteristics positively associated with diet quality with consistency across the four countries, unlike socio-professional status, age and seasonality. Regional differences within countries persisted even after controlling for the other sociodemographic variables. Conclusions: Poor dietary choices among the EU elderly were not caused by insufficient resources and informational measures could be successful in promoting healthy eating for healthy ageing. On the other hand, food habits appeared largely set in the latter part of life, with age and retirement having little influence on the healthiness of dietary choices. KeywordsElderly Ageing Diet quality Socio-economic Sociodemographic Healthy eating Nutritional healthIt is now well established that the EU population is ageing, which creates important challenges for the functioning of public services and raises fundamental questions about the evolution of human welfare. A few figures help appreciate the magnitude and speed of the changes ahead. Eurostat forecasts that the proportion of the EU population over the age of 65 years (80 years) will increase steadily from 16?0 % (4?1 %) in 2010 to 27?8 % (10?1 %) in 2050 (1) . Meanwhile, the demographic projections of the ANCIEN project of the EU Seventh Framework Programme suggest that life expectancy at age 65 years will increase by about 3 years from 2008 to 2040 (2)

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociodemographic determinants of diet quality of the EU elderly: a comparative analysis in four countries

Irz

Fratiglioni

Kuosmanen

et al. 2013

Public Health Nutr.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We emphasize two strands. First, we find many studies looking at the effect of family (household) income on obesity or BMI (e.g., Cawley, Moran and Simon, 2008;Schmeiser, 2008;Garcia Villar and QuintanaDomeque, 2009). Second, there is also a well established literature interested in the effect of BMI or obesity on wages and earnings (e.g., Atella, Pace and Vuri, 2008;Cawley, 2004;Garcia and Quintana-Domeque, 2006;Han, Norton and Stearns, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Fatter Attraction: Marital Status and the Relationship between BMI and Labor Supply

Oreffice

Quintana‐Domeque

2009

SSRN Journal

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SummaryWe empirically analyze the labor supply choices of married men and women according to their body size (BMI), using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics on anthropometric characteristics of both spouses, and unmarried men and women as comparison group. Heavier husbands are found to work significantly more hours and earn more labor income, controlling for both spouses' demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Conversely, no such effect is found for either unmarried individuals or for married women. We suggest a marriage market mechanism through which male BMI and earnings are positively related. Heavier married men compensate for their negative physical trait by providing their wives with more disposable income, working more hours and earning more. Heavier women may not able to compensate their spouse through labor supply, as female physical traits are more relevant in the marriage market than the corresponding male traits. Keywords AbstractWe empirically analyze the labor supply choices of married men and women according to their body size (BMI), using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics on anthropometric characteristics of both spouses, and unmarried men and women as comparison group. Heavier husbands are found to work significantly more hours and earn more labor income, controlling for both spouses' demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Conversely, no such effect is found for either unmarried individuals or for married women. We suggest a marriage market mechanism through which male BMI and earnings are positively related. Heavier married men compensate for their negative physical trait by providing their wives with more disposable income, working more hours and earning more. Heavier women may not able to compensate their spouse through labor supply, as female physical traits are more relevant in the marriage market than the corresponding male traits. JEL codes: D1, I1, J1, J22.

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“…These conflicting effects may explain why research so far has found little or no evidence that income affects BMI or the likelihood of becoming overweight or obese. 16,17 A direction for future research is to determine whether these negligible or zero effects on weight are the result of negligible changes in diet and physical activity, or whether there are substantial changes that happen to cancel each other out (for example, that calorie consumption and exercise both increase, with no net change in weight).…”

Section: Economic Factors and Childhood Obesitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Economics Of Childhood Obesity

2010

Self Cite

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In the past few decades, obesity rates among American children have skyrocketed. Although many factors have played a part in this unhealthy increase, this paper focuses on how economic policies may be contributing to our children's growing girth and how these policies might be altered to reverse this trend. It examines the economic causes and consequences of obesity, the rationales for government intervention, the cost-effectiveness of various policies, and the need for more research funding.I n the twenty-five years that elapsed between surveys conducted in 1971-1974 and in 1999-2000, the prevalence of obesity rose from 5 percent to 10.4 percent among two-to-five-year-olds; from 4 percent to 15.3 percent among six-to-elevenyear-olds; and from 6.1 percent to 15.5 percent among twelve-to-nineteen-year-olds. 1,2 Economic Factors And Childhood ObesityChildhood obesity is a complex, multidisciplinary issue, so the search for solutions requires information sharing across many fields. To promote such exchange, this paper describes research findings from the field of economics. Relative to other disciplines, economics has only recently been applied to the study of obesity. As a result, there are many useful applications yet to be made.Economics offers several useful tools for the study of childhood obesity: insights into the economic causes and consequences of obesity, clearly defined rationales for government intervention in markets, and the use of cost-effectiveness analysis for comparing policies to prevent or reduce obesity. This paper summarizes recent research in each of those areas. It concludes by discussing the implications for health policy.Economic explanations for the recent rise in obesity tend to focus on changes that give people incentives to consume more or to burn fewer calories. These include the following.FOOD PRICES The real price of food (the price of food adjusted for inflation across all goods and services) has declined greatly in recent decades. For example, between 1990 and 2007 the real price of a two-liter bottle of Coca-Cola fell 34.89 percent, and that of a McDonald's quarter-pounder with cheese fell 5.44 percent.3 Some research indicates that reductions in the price of food account for 41-43 percent of the rise in young adults' body mass index (BMI) between 1981 and 1994. 4 BMI is most sensitive to the price of fast food in particular for youth from families of low socioeconomic status.5 The real price of fruit and vegetables rose 17 percent between 1997 and 2003, 6 an increase that some studies have linked to higher BMI in American children and adolescents. 7,8 AGRICULTURAL POLICIES The decline in the price of food could be due to agriculture policies. However, several studies have concluded that such policies have little impact on consumer prices of energy-dense foods.9,10 About half of farm subsidies are based on historic, not current, production, which limits incentives for farmers to increase output.9 Moreover, U.S. farm policy raises John Cawley (JHC38@cornell .ed...

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The impact of income on the weight of elderly Americans

Cited by 70 publications

References 57 publications

Sociodemographic determinants of diet quality of the EU elderly: a comparative analysis in four countries

Sociodemographic determinants of diet quality of the EU elderly: a comparative analysis in four countries

Fatter Attraction: Marital Status and the Relationship between BMI and Labor Supply

The Economics Of Childhood Obesity

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