It is hard to tune out all the talk about obesity in this country. In the past, such talk has led me to ponder how serious the problem really is, how obesity is measured, etc. It has even led to the suggestion that higher oil prices may help curtail U.S. obesity.
Now here is a new working paper called “Why Is the Developed World Obese?” by Sara Bleich, David Cutler, Christopher Murray, and Alyce Adams. They conclude that “rising obesity is primarily the result of consuming more calories” (as against declining physical activity), and that “the increase in caloric intake is associated with technological innovations such as reduced food prices as well as changing sociodemographic factors such as increased urbanization and increased female labor force participation.”
In other words: when there is a lot of tasty food around and it is relatively cheap, people tend to eat a lot of it.
Nothing in this theory contradicts Seth Roberts’s understanding of the human appetite mechanism; nor does it contradict the fact that we live in a country where even poor people can afford to be obese. The link between poverty and obesity is so robust that it is easy to forget what an anomaly this is in historical terms.
[Addendum: a forthcoming paper by Jonah Gelbach, Jonathan Klick, and Thomas Stratmann, called "Cheap Donuts and Expensive Broccoli," also explores the relationships between obesity and price, arguing that "as healthful foods become more expensive relative to unhealthful foods, individuals substitute to a less healthful diet."]
and 
. You can also watch it on 
“Why Have Americans Become More Obese?” By David M. Cutler, Edward L. Glaeser And Jesse M. Shapiro, January 2003
http://www.economics.harvard.edu/hier/2003papers/HIER1994.pdf
Sometimes you need to say something several times to get people to listen.
“Why Have Americans Become More Obese?” By David M. Cutler, Edward L. Glaeser And Jesse M. Shapiro, January 2003
http://www.economics.harvard.edu/hier/2003papers/HIER1994.pdf
Sometimes you need to say something several times to get people to listen.
Unfortunately, the cheap food is mostly crapola and the healthier alternatives are more expensive. I am very appreciative of the fact that my family can afford to buy good veggies and fish. As such, I would totally support a measure that provided for food stamps being worth more when redeemed to buy fresh meat and veggies.
Unfortunately, the cheap food is mostly crapola and the healthier alternatives are more expensive. I am very appreciative of the fact that my family can afford to buy good veggies and fish. As such, I would totally support a measure that provided for food stamps being worth more when redeemed to buy fresh meat and veggies.
Can’t remember the last time I was in a church, any church, where the clergyperson giving the sermon talked about the sins of sloth and gluttony.
Yet in the past clergypeople must have preached against sloth and gluttony, or else sloth and gluttony would never have reached the status of being two of the Big Seven.
What happened to make sloth and gluttony seem harmless? They are actually pretty harmful to the person who practices them.
Can’t remember the last time I was in a church, any church, where the clergyperson giving the sermon talked about the sins of sloth and gluttony.
Yet in the past clergypeople must have preached against sloth and gluttony, or else sloth and gluttony would never have reached the status of being two of the Big Seven.
What happened to make sloth and gluttony seem harmless? They are actually pretty harmful to the person who practices them.
There was a study that contrasted the low levels of obesity among the Amish with the US in general. They are highly active and eat a meat-and-two-veg type of diet. Hardly expensive food, just the kind of stuff I ate as a poor-ish kid in the seventies.
There was a study that contrasted the low levels of obesity among the Amish with the US in general. They are highly active and eat a meat-and-two-veg type of diet. Hardly expensive food, just the kind of stuff I ate as a poor-ish kid in the seventies.