BMI Changes in Russian Adults: The Role of Health Related Behaviors and Spousal Relationships

Sonya Huffman ()

Research in Applied Economics, 2014, vol. 6, issue 3, 129-142

Abstract: The paper investigates the effects of changes in marital status and health related behaviors (smoking and drinking) on the body mass index (BMI) in Russian adults over a ten-year period. Smoking and drinking behavior changes have played an important part in health status changes over 1994 to 2004. The results indicate that the individual weight/BMI changes asymmetrically in health determinants; the sign and the magnitude of the response are different depending on the starting point and whether there is an increase or a decrease in the explanatory variable. Males BMI decreases with smoking and increases with quitting smoking, but females BMI increases with drinking alcohol and decreases with stopping drinking. Losing a partner decreases only the females BMI, but gaining a spouse/partner is associated with increases in BMI for both genders. For married females and males, the change in spousal BMI is significantly positively related. Understanding interactions between individual health-related behaviors and the set of determinants that contribute to such behaviors is a fundamental step in the design of effective interventions.

Keywords: Health related behaviors; BMI; Asymmetric response; Russia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Related works:
Working Paper: BMI changes in Russian adults: The role of health related behaviors and spousal relationships (2014)
Working Paper: BMI changes in Russian adults: The role of health related behaviors and spousal relationships (2014)
Working Paper: BMI Changes in Russian Adults: The Role of Health Related Behaviors and Spousal Relationships (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mth:raee88:v:6:y:2014:i:3:p:129-142

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