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Regional obesity determinants in the United States: a model of myopic addictive behavior in food consumption

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  • Dragan Miljkovic
  • William Nganje

Abstract

Obesity is considered one of the largest public health problems in the United States today. The premise for our study is a body of results from medical research showing that sweetened foods, i.e., an increased consumption of sugars, leads first to sugar addiction and second to carbohydrate addiction and increased consumption of fats. The latter feature is actually responsible for the increase in body mass index (BMI), but the trigger that produces cravings for extra calories is sugar and sweeteners. Based on our results, a myopic model of addictive behavior in food consumption seems to capture the food consuming habits and related outbreak of obesity among the American population. Our results indicate that lower current and past real prices of sugar contribute significantly to higher values of BMI, and increase the likelihood of becoming obese in the United States.

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  • Dragan Miljkovic & William Nganje, 2008. "Regional obesity determinants in the United States: a model of myopic addictive behavior in food consumption," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 38(3), pages 375-384, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:38:y:2008:i:3:p:375-384
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-0862.2008.00307.x
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    1. Barrera, Emiliano Lopez & Miljkovic, Dragan, 2022. "The link between the two epidemics provides an opportunity to remedy obesity while dealing with Covid-19," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 280-297.
    2. Maria Anauati & Sebastian Galiani & Federico Weinschelbaum, 2015. "The rise of noncommunicable diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean: challenges for public health policies," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 24(1), pages 1-56, December.
    3. Nathalie Mathieu-Bolh, 2021. "Economic Stress and Body Weight During the COVID-19 Pandemic," Studies in Microeconomics, , vol. 9(2), pages 256-282, December.
    4. Härkänen, Tommi & Kotakorpi, Kaisa & Pietinen, Pirjo & Pirttilä, Jukka & Reinivuo, Heli & Suoniemi, Ilpo, 2014. "The welfare effects of health-based food tax policy," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(P1), pages 196-206.
    5. Lisa M. Powell & Frank J. Chaloupka, 2011. "Economic Contextual Factors and Child Body Mass Index," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Aspects of Obesity, pages 127-144, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Rimal, Arbindra & Moon, Wanki & Balasubramanian, Siva K. & Miljkovic, Dragan, 2011. "Self Efficacy as a Mediator of the Relationship between Dietary Knowledge and Behavior," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 42(3), pages 1-14, November.
    7. Xin Xu & Jayachandran N Variyam & Zhenxiang Zhao & Frank J Chaloupka, 2014. "Relative Food Prices and Obesity in U.S. Metropolitan Areas: 1976-2001," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-22, December.
    8. Lopez Barrera, Emiliano & Shively, Gerald, 2022. "Excess calorie availability and adult BMI: A cohort analysis of patterns and trends for 156 countries from 1890 to 2015," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    9. Eliason, Marcus & Johansson, Per & Nilsson, Martin, 2018. "Forward-looking moral hazard in social insurance: evidence from a natural experiment," Working Paper Series 2018:11, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    10. Tatjana Miljkovic & Saleem Shaik & Dragan Miljkovic, 2017. "Redefining standards for body mass index of the US population based on BRFSS data using mixtures," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(2), pages 197-211, January.
    11. Boncinelli, Fabio & Riccioli, Francesco & Marone, Enrico, 2015. "Do forests help to keep my body mass index low?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 11-17.
    12. Herath, J & Gebremedhin, T., 2010. "An Empirical Analysis of Adult Obesity in West Virginia," Sri Lankan Journal of Agricultural Economics, Sri Lanka Agricultural Economics Association (SAEA), vol. 12, pages 1-15.
    13. Nathalie Mathieu-Bolh, 2021. "Hand-to-mouth Consumption and Calorie Consciousness: Consequences for Junk-food Taxation," Public Finance Review, , vol. 49(2), pages 167-220, March.

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