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Beyond BMI: The Value of More Accurate Measures of Fatness and Obesity in Social Science Research

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Author Info
John Cawley
Richard V. Burkhauser

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Abstract

Virtually all social science research related to obesity uses body mass index (BMI), usually calculated using self-reported values of weight and height, or clinical weight classifications based on BMI. Yet there is wide agreement in the medical literature that such measures are seriously flawed because they do not distinguish fat from fat-free mass such as muscle and bone. Here we evaluate more accurate measures of fatness (total body fat, percent body fat, and waist circumference) that have greater theoretical support in the medical literature. We provide conversion formulas based on NHANES data so that researchers can calculate the estimated values of these more accurate measures of fatness using the self-reported weight and height available in many social science datasets. To demonstrate the benefits of these alternative measures of fatness, we show that using them significantly impacts who is classified as obese. For example, when the more accurate measures of fatness are used, the gap in obesity between white and African American men increases substantially, with white men significantly more likely to be obese. In addition, the gap in obesity between African American and white women is cut in half (with African American women still significantly more likely to be obese). As an example of the value of fatness in predicting social science outcomes, we show that while BMI is positively correlated with the probability of employment disability in the PSID, when body mass is divided into its components, fatness is positively correlated with disability while fat-free mass (such as muscle) is negatively correlated with disability.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 12291.

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Date of creation: Jun 2006
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12291

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I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Richard V. Burkhauser & John Cawley, 2004. "Obesity, Disability, and Movement Onto the Disability Insurance Rolls," Working Papers wp089, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center. [Downloadable!]
  2. Darius Lakdawalla & Tomas Philipson, 2002. "The Growth of Obesity and Technological Change: A Theoretical and Empirical Examination," NBER Working Papers 8946, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Dalton Conley & Rebecca Glauber, 2005. "Gender, Body Mass and Economic Status," NBER Working Papers 11343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Darius Lakdawalla & Dana Goldman & Jay Bhattacharya, 2001. "Are the Young Becoming More Disabled?," NBER Working Papers 8247, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Chou, Shin-Yi & Grossman, Michael & Saffer, Henry, 2004. "An economic analysis of adult obesity: results from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 565-587, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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