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Urbanization and the spread of diseases of affluence in China

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  • Van de Poel, E
  • O'Donnell, O
  • van Doorslaer, E

Abstract

A new methodology is used to quantify, track and explain the distribution of obesity and hypertension across areas differentiated by their degree of urbanicity. We construct an index of urbanicity from longitudinal data on community characteristics from the China Health and Nutrition Survey and compute a rank-based measure of inequality in disease risk factors by degree of urbanicity. Prevalence rates almost doubled over the period 1991-2004 and the risk factors became less concentrated in more urbanized areas. Decomposition analysis shows that urbanicity-related inequalities are mostly attributable to differences in community level characteristics and to disparities in incomes and in the physical and farming activity of individuals.

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  • Van de Poel, E & O'Donnell, O & van Doorslaer, E, 2008. "Urbanization and the spread of diseases of affluence in China," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 08/25, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    • Handle: RePEc:yor:hectdg:08/25
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    Cited by:

    1. Min, Shi & Wang, Xiaobing & Yu, Xiaohua, 2021. "Does dietary knowledge affect household food waste in the developing economy of China?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    2. Tafreschi, Darjusch, 2015. "The income body weight gradients in the developing economy of China," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 115-134.
    3. Ying Yao & Guanghua Wan & Dongfang Meng, 2019. "Income distribution and health: can polarization explain health outcomes better than inequality?," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(4), pages 543-557, June.
    4. Hanna Karg & Rafael Hologa & Johannes Schlesinger & Axel Drescher & Gordana Kranjac-Berisavljevic & Rüdiger Glaser, 2019. "Classifying and Mapping Periurban Areas of Rapidly Growing Medium-Sized Sub-Saharan African Cities: A Multi-Method Approach Applied to Tamale, Ghana," Land, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 8(3), pages 1-22, February.
    5. Mary Schooling, C. & Lau, Elaine W.L. & Tin, Keith Y.K. & Leung, Gabriel M., 2010. "Social disparities and cause-specific mortality during economic development," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(10), pages 1550-1557, May.
    6. E. Van de Poel & O. O'Donnell & E. Van Doorslaer, 2012. "Is there a health penalty of China's rapid urbanization?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(4), pages 367-385, April.
    7. Son Hong Nghiem & Luke Brian Connelly, 2017. "Convergence and determinants of health expenditures in OECD countries," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-11, December.
    8. Zhou, Song & Awokuse, Titus O., "undated". "Urbanization, Nutrition Transition, and Obesity: Evidence from China," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170458, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Okoruwa, V. & Ikudayisi, A., 2018. "Urbanization and Food Security: Empirical Evidence from Households in Urban Southwest Nigeria," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277053, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Nan Zhang & Laia Bécares & Tarani Chandola, 2016. "Patterns and Determinants of Double-Burden of Malnutrition among Rural Children: Evidence from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(7), pages 1-19, July.
    11. Guojun He & Jeffrey M. Perloff, 2016. "Surface Water Quality and Infant Mortality in China," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65(1), pages 119-139.
    12. Liu, Hong & Fang, Hai & Zhao, Zhong, 2013. "Urban–rural disparities of child health and nutritional status in China from 1989 to 2006," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 294-309.
    13. Nie, P. & Ding, L. & Jones, A.M., 2020. "Inequality of opportunity in bodyweight among middle-aged and older Chinese: a distributional approach," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 20/14, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    14. Sumeet Saksena & Jefferson Fox & Michael Epprecht & Chinh C Tran & Duong H Nong & James H Spencer & Lam Nguyen & Melissa L Finucane & Vien D Tran & Bruce A Wilcox, 2015. "Evidence for the Convergence Model: The Emergence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) in Viet Nam," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-21, September.
    15. Audrey Dorélien & Hongwei Xu, 2020. "Estimating rural–urban disparities in self-rated health in China: Impact of choice of urban definition," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(49), pages 1429-1460.
    16. E. Van de Poel & O. O'Donnell & E. Van Doorslaer, 2009. "The Health Penalty of China's Rapid Urbanization," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 09-016/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    17. Tao Zhang, 2016. "Socioeconomic determinants of obesity and hypertension at the county level in China," Mathematical Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 239-252, October.
    18. Abay, Kibrom A. & Amare, Mulubrhan, 2018. "Night light intensity and women’s body weight: Evidence from Nigeria," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 238-248.
    19. Heckley, Gawain & Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Kjellsson, Gustav, 2016. "A general method for decomposing the causes of socioeconomic inequality in health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 89-106.
    20. Zhao, Meng & Konishi, Yoshifumi & Glewwe, Paul, 2013. "Does information on health status lead to a healthier lifestyle? Evidence from China on the effect of hypertension diagnosis on food consumption," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 367-385.
    21. Dolton, Peter & Xiao, Mimi, 2015. "The intergenerational transmission of BMI in China," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 90-113.
    22. Jones-Smith, Jessica C. & Popkin, Barry M., 2010. "Understanding community context and adult health changes in China: Development of an urbanicity scale," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(8), pages 1436-1446, October.
    23. Zhang, Xuan & Nie, Huihua, 2021. "Public health insurance and pharmaceutical innovation: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).

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    Keywords

    China; urbanization; health inequalities; obesity; hypertension; decomposition;
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