Calories, Obesity and Health in OECD Countries

Mario Mazzocchi () and William Bruce Traill ()

No 7972, 81st Annual Conference, April 2-4, 2007, Reading University from Agricultural Economics Society

Abstract: Theoretical models suggest that decisions about diet, weight and health status are endogenous within a utility maximisation framework. In this paper, we model these behavioural relationships in a fixed-effect panel setting using a simultaneous equation system, with a view to determining whether economic variables can explain the trends in calorie consumption, obesity and health in OECD countries and the large differences among countries. The empirical model shows that progress in medical treatment and health expenditure mitigates mortality from diet-related diseases, despite rising obesity rates. While the model accounts for endogeneity and serial correlation, results are affected by data limitations.

Keywords: food consumption; obesity; overweight; health; Health Economics and Policy; I12; C33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
Date: 2007
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aes007:7972

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