NATIVE AMERICAN OBESITY: AN ECONOMIC MODEL OF THE THRIFTY GENE THEORY

Timothy Richards and Paul M. Patterson

No 36208, 2004 Annual Meeting, June 30-July 2, 2004, Honolulu, Hawaii from Western Agricultural Economics Association

Abstract: Native American obesity and the associated health conditions are generally thought to result in part from a genetic predisposition to overeating fats and carbohydrates, called the "thrifty gene." Although coined by nutritional scientists, this study maintains the origin of the thrifty gene lies in economics. Apparently harmful overconsumption and addiction constitute economically rational behavior if the increment to current utility from adding to one's stock of "consumption capital" is greater than the present value of utility lost in the future due to ill health and the costs of withdrawal. Tests of these conditions for such "rational addiction" are conducted using two-stage household production approach. The results obtained by estimating this model in a panel of Native and non-Native supermarket scanner data show that both Natives and non-Natives tend to be inherently forward-looking in their nutrient choices, but Natives tend to have far higher long-run demand elasticities for carbohydrates compared to non-Natives. Consequently, reductions in real food prices over time, primarily among foods that are dense in simple carbohydrates, leads Native Americans to over-consume potentially harmful nutrients relative to their traditional diet.

Keywords: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Health Economics and Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 41
Date: 2004
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Working Paper: Native American Obesity: An Economic Model of the "Thrifty Gene" Theory (2004)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:waeaho:36208

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.36208

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