Abstract. Obesity rates have increased dramatically over the last 30 years. Rising obesity has developed into a considerable worldwide public health problem with significant economic and social consequences. Accordingly, obesity has become a subject of economic research. This paper provides a broad survey of the recent and growing economic literature on the causes of obesity. The literature, both theoretical and empirical, overall aims to explain the rising obesity trend and to identify the factors that contribute to obesity. Also surveyed are non-economic causes and consequences of obesity and the interconnection with economic influences. An understanding of the causes of obesity allows policies to be considered that might stem the global increase in obesity.

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In light of the widespread phenomena of diet failure and excessive dieting, this paper presents a theoretical economic analysis of the decision-making process of weight-loss dieting. The paper incorporates behavioral elements involved in the process of dieting: effort exerted in dieting, influence of social norms concerning body weight, time-inconsistent present biased preferences, and a distinction between naiveté and sophistication. The model explains cyclic dieting and provides interesting insights on the extent of weight-loss dieting. The extent of dieting is an increasing function of initial body weight and a decreasing function of the effort exerted in dieting and the strength of social norms concerning ideal weight. Income and diet strictness have an ambiguous effect. In addition, greater dieting efforts are not necessarily balanced against a slowdown in body metabolism or a higher initial body weight.

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