SEX DIFFERENCES IN OBESITY RATES IN POOR COUNTRIES: EVIDENCE FROM SOUTH AFRICA

Anne Case and Alicia Menendez

No 1020, Working Papers from Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Health and Wellbeing.

Abstract: Globally, men and women face markedly different risks of obesity. In all but of handful of (primarily Western European) countries, obesity is more prevalent among women than men. In this paper, we examine several potential explanations for this phenomenon. We analyze differences between men and women in reports and effects of the proximate causes of obesity -- physical exertion and food intake -- and the underlying causes of obesity -- childhood and adult poverty, depression, and attitudes about obesity. We evaluate the evidence for each explanation using data collected in an African township outside of Cape Town. Three factors explain the greater obesity rates we find among women. Women who were nutritionally deprived as children are significantly more likely to be obese as adults, while men who were deprived as children face no greater risk. In addition, women of higher adult socioeconomic status are significantly more likely to be obese, which is not true for men. These two factors can fully explain the difference in obesity rates we find in our sample. Finally (and more speculatively), women's perceptions of an 'ideal' female body are larger than men's perceptions of the 'ideal' male body, and individuals with larger 'ideal' body images are significantly more likely to be obese.

JEL-codes: D13 I10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-07
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (33)

Downloads: (external link)
https://drive.google.com/a/princeton.edu/file/d/0B ... eTlCbjFYcHYyQVU/view
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 400 Bad Request (https://drive.google.com/a/princeton.edu/file/d/0BwjFN4HbBrDBeTlCbjFYcHYyQVU/view [302 Moved Temporarily]--> https://www.google.com/a/princeton.edu/ServiceLogin?service=wise&passive=1209600&osid=1&continue=https://drive.google.com/a/princeton.edu/file/d/0BwjFN4HbBrDBeTlCbjFYcHYyQVU/view&followup=https://drive.google.com/a/princeton.edu/file/d/0BwjFN4HbBrDBeTlCbjFYcHYyQVU/view [302 Moved Temporarily]--> https://idp.princeton.edu/idp/profile/SAML2/Redirect/SSO?SAMLRequest=fVJNT%2BMwEL0j7X%2BwfM9Xu0iL1QR1QWgrsRDRwIGb40zSoYkneJwW%2Fj1pClr2ANfnN%2B9jPIvzl64VO3CMZFOZhLEUYA1VaJtU3hdXwS95nv04WbDu2l4tB7%2Bxd%2FA8AHsxTlpW00MqB2cVaUZWVnfAyhu1Xv69VrMwVr0jT4ZaKVaXqeywITQVNh2UemvpCQEaU1Lfa9zUm6dya7e2r0spHj5izQ6xVswDrCx7bf0IxbPTIJ4H87hI5ir5qeZnj1Lk706%2F0R4bfBerPJJY%2FSmKPMhv18UksMMK3M3ITmVD1LQQGuoO9rlmxt0I17plkGLJDM6PAS%2FI8tCBW4PboYH7u%2BtUbrzvWUXRfr8P%2F8lEOuodWgOebAjVEGnDMpuWq6Z%2B7tNWv0%2BvP9xl9rX%2BIvoknb1%2F4qHb6jKnFs2rWLYt7S8caD8W824Ye12R67T%2F2j0JkwnBKqgnqhos92CwRqikiLKj6%2F%2FXMt7QGw%3D%3D&RelayState=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fa%2Fprinceton.edu%2FServiceLogin%3Fservice%3Dwise%26passive%3Dtrue%26osid%3D1%26continue%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fdrive.google.com%252Fa%252Fprinceton.edu%252Ffile%252Fd%252F0BwjFN4HbBrDBeTlCbjFYcHYyQVU%252Fview%26followup%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fdrive.google.com%252Fa%252Fprinceton.edu%252Ffile%252Fd%252F0BwjFN4HbBrDBeTlCbjFYcHYyQVU%252Fview)

Related works:
Journal Article: Sex differences in obesity rates in poor countries: Evidence from South Africa (2009)
Working Paper: Sex Differences in Obesity Rates in Poor Countries: Evidence from South Africa (2007)
Working Paper: Sex Differences in Obesity Rates in Poor Countries: Evidence from South Africa (2007)
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:pri:cheawb:73

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Health and Wellbeing. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Bobray Bordelon ().