Can social programs break the vicious cycle between poverty and obesity?

Pierre Levasseur (pierre.levasseur@inrae.fr)
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Pierre Levasseur: SADAPT - Sciences pour l'Action et le Développement : Activités, Produits, Territoires - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AgroParisTech, GREThA - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Departamento de Economía Aplicada - UGR - Universidad de Granada = University of Granada, UMR G-EAU - Gestion de l'Eau, Acteurs, Usages - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - AgroParisTech - IRSTEA - Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier

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Abstract: This article analyzes how social interventions offer a solution to counteract the spread of overweight among the poor. Focusing on the Mexican conditional cash transfers program, we assess the average effect of a long run enrollment on adult body mass index and waist-to-height ratio. An original triple difference approach, which distinguishes over time participants from nonparticipants and stayers from leavers, is implemented. We find that the expansion of this program (to urban areas) has a protective effect on adult bodyweight for staying participants, but not an absolute effect. Moreover, the global impact of the program to reduce obesity is halved due to a low rate of participation in Mexican cities. Furthermore, we find health-risky externalities related to the cash component of the program. Indeed, the amount of cash payments is positively correlated with abdominal fat concentration, especially among enrolled women and for short-run enrollments. To sum up, our results bring new insights to the complementary role of both program components (cash and conditionalities)

Keywords: Mexico; social protection; conditional cash transfers; obesity; triple difference (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02450319v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published in World Development, 2019, 113, pp.143-156. ⟨10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.09.003⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02450319

DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.09.003

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