IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ehbiol/v51y2023ics1570677x23000552.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Soda expansion in the tropics: The effect on obesity rates among women without piped water at home

Author

Listed:
  • Ritter, Patricia I.

Abstract

Obesity rates and soda consumption are increasing at a worrisome pace in developing countries. In particular, soda companies seem to be targeting areas with poor access to clean water. This paper exploits a natural experiment in Peru and finds evidence that changes in the price of soda generate important effects in terms of obesity among individuals without piped water at home. These significant effects are driven by a combination of a large effect in the consumption of soda and an effect close to zero in the consumption of potential substitutes high in calories. This paper also provides some evidence that a reduction in price of soda reduces diarrhea prevalence, suggesting that some individuals substitute away contaminated water. This evidence suggests that soda taxes might be particularly beneficial among this population in terms of the prevention of obesity and possibly related diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The potential trade-off between obesity and diarrhea needs to be investigated in greater depth.

Suggested Citation

  • Ritter, Patricia I., 2023. "Soda expansion in the tropics: The effect on obesity rates among women without piped water at home," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:51:y:2023:i:c:s1570677x23000552
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2023.101274
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X23000552
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ehb.2023.101274?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:51:y:2023:i:c:s1570677x23000552. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622964 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.