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Non-Economic Reasons for Changes in Weight

Section B

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Increased Prevalence of Obesity

  Theories (many non-economic) that some people have related to the

increased prevalence of obesity:

-  Growing economy and women working

-  Medications

-  Changes in the price of cigarettes

-  “All nighters”

-  Climate control

-  Pollution

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Growing Economy and Women Working

  Already mentioned the tradeoff between the opportunity to earn

income and the opportunity to cook at home

  Other effects of having two working parents

-  Less capacity to monitor children’s eating habits

  Women delaying childbearing is associated with a higher risk of 

overweight children

  Note that women are just responding to the incentives provided by

the economy in the United States

-  This is not to say that women should be behaving any differently

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Medications

  What groups in the United States are taking medications?

-  68 percent of Americans taking at least one in the year 2004

  Average American filled 12 prescriptions per year in 2004

  Many of the best selling prescriptions are associated with weightgain

  Still, even if all people on prescription medications that are

associated with weight gain were taken off the meds, the obesity

rate is not predicted to decline very much

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Changes in Sleep Patterns (All Nighters)

  Sleep deprivation

-  Greater appetite

-  Slower metabolism

  People sleeping on average an hour less than in the 1970s

-  TV-  Work

-  Computers

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Climate Control

  When the temperature is kept in the range of 72 degrees to 78

degrees Fahrenheit the metabolic system has to work less hard to

maintain body temperature

  Much more air conditioning and climate control in American houses

now

  Probably not the biggest reason

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Pollution

  Many pollutants are endocrine disruptors

  However, it is difficult to make a case that these are an extremely

important factor

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Further Economic Logic

  How do people behave when they are protected from bearing the

full costs of the consequences of their decisions?

  How technology changes the effects of being overweight?

 How is overweight defined?

  How much credit do economists give consumers for making decisions

when all is said and done?

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Moral Hazard

  People are able to obtain services at prices that are below the

marginal social cost of production

-  People do not worry about the extra spending associated with

obesity when someone else is paying for the care

  Some evidence suggesting that people with diabetes rely more on

medications after mandates are passed to cover diabetesmedications

-  Key question—is this truly a “moral hazard” or just a response

to economic incentives?

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Maybe Obesity Is Not as Bad as It Used to Be

  While more people are obese, the prevalence of bad health

indicators among the obese has diminished

-  High cholesterol

  21 percentage point decrease compared with obese 30-40

years ago

-  High blood pressure: 18 percentage point decrease

-  Smoking: 12 percentage point decrease

  Can take pills or obtain procedures

 Pills can decrease cardiovascular risks more than losing weight

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What is Overweight?

  Who defines overweight?

-  Maybe each person is just the right weight given the other

choices that the individual must make and the changes that

would be required to bring weight under control by medical

standards

  Different preferences for exercise and food

  Different monetary constraints

  People seem to understand the implications of their

weight

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Lecture Evaluation

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