Obesity in Bulgaria: Economic Determinants, Intergenerational Dynamics, and Policy Implications

Daniel Petrov

Economic Thought journal, 2025, issue 4, 452-466

Abstract: The research examines obesity in Bulgaria as both a public health concern and a structural economic challenge shaped by intergenerational dynamics and institutional transformations. A fixed-effects panel data model was applied to 33 European countries (2006–2022) to test two hypotheses: that childhood overweight is a predictor of adult obesity, and that a high absolute number of obese individuals sustains the phenomenon through normalisation effects. The findings confirm a strong positive association between early-age overweight and obesity in adulthood, while the role of absolute numbers appears more complex, reflecting demographic and structural influences. Bulgaria is identified as an “ascending-risk” case, positioned between high-income and upper-middle-income economies, where deregulated food environments and demographic decline are both amplifying health inequalities. The study argues that obesity should be addressed not primarily through medical treatment but through preventive strategies, including early childhood interventions, nutrition programs, and cross-sectoral coordination. Despite limitations related to age-disaggregated data and sample size, the research provides solid evidence that obesity is an economic issue with long-term consequences for human capital and sustainable development.

JEL-codes: C33 I12 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://etj.iki.bas.bg/storage/app/uploads/public/ ... e1f1453502785911.pdf

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bas:econth:y:2025:i:4:p:452-466

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Economic Thought journal from Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Diana Dimitrova ().