Behavioral Economics, Food Assistance, and Obesity

Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 2006, vol. 35, issue 2, pages 209-220

Abstract: While there is mixed evidence of the impact of food assistance programs on obesity, there is general agreement that the food-insecure are at higher risk of obesity and obesity-related dis-eases. Food assistance programs, originally designed to overcome a lack of available food, now need to confront a very different problem: how to provide for the food-insecure while en-couraging healthy lifestyles. This paper examines the potential to address these competing needs using traditional economic policies (manipulating information or prices) versus policies engaging behavioral economics and psychology.

Keywords: food assistance; behavioral economics; food insecurity; obesity (search for similar items in EconPapers)

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