Economic Stressors and the Demand for “Fattening” Foods

Smith, Trenton G.

doi:10.1093/ajae/aar111

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The experience of financial hardship and economic insecurity have been shown to be associated with higher weight ( Lynch et al., 1997 ), greater odds of obesity ( Conklin et al., 2013; Laaksonen et al., 2004 ) and more weight gain ( Conklin et al., 2014; Loman et al., 2013; Smith et al., 2009 ). Economic insecurity has also been associated with food choices that promote weight gain ( Smith, 2012 ) and studies have found that the purchase and consumption of more energy-dense foods rises during times of economic recession ( Griffith et al., 2013 ) and in areas with rising rates of unemployment ( Dave and Kelly, 2012 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Job-loss and weight gain in British adults: Evidence from two longitudinal studies

Monsivais

Martin

Suhrcke

et al. 2015

Social Science & Medicine

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Overweight and obesity have been associated with unemployment but less is known about changes in weight associated with changes in employment. We examined weight changes associated with job-loss, retirement and maintaining employment in two samples of working adults in the United Kingdom. This was a prospective study of 7201 adults in the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk study (aged 39–76 years) and 4539 adults in the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) who were followed up over 43 months and 26 months, respectively. In both samples, changes in measured (EPIC) and self-reported (BHPS) weight were computed for each participant and assessed in relation to three employment transitions: maintaining paid employment, retirement and job-loss. Regression models adjusted for potential confounders. Further analyses evaluated the contribution of diet, physical activity and smoking to weight gain. In EPIC-Norfolk, weight change differed across the three employment transitions for women but not men. The mean (95% CI) annualised change in weight for women who became unemployed over the follow-up period was 0.70 (0.55, 0.85) kg/y while those who maintained employment gained 0.49 (0.43, 0.55) kg/y (P = 0.007). Accounting for changes in smoking, diet and physical activity did not substantially alter the difference in weight gain among groups. In BHPS, job-loss was associated with weight gain of 1.56 (0.89, 2.23) kg/y, while those who maintained employment 0.60 (0.53, 0.68) kg/y (P < 0.001). In both samples, weight changes associated with retirement were similar to those staying in work. In BHPS, job-loss was also associated with significant declines in self-reported well-being and increases in sleep-loss.Two UK-based samples of working adults reveal strong associations between job-loss and excess weight gain. The mediating behaviours are so far unclear but psychosocial mechanisms and sleep-loss may contribute to the excess weight gain among individuals who become unemployed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Job-loss and weight gain in British adults: Evidence from two longitudinal studies

Monsivais

Martin

Suhrcke

et al. 2015

Social Science & Medicine

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“…I myself have offered a related conjecture, suggesting that the similarities in the physiological effects of modern fast food and what anthropologists call "famine foods" are not accidental. Rather, one might say that industry is simply serving up what humans have evolved to crave during periods of economic insecurity (Smith 2012b).…”

Section: Randolph M Nessementioning

confidence: 99%

Food insecurity as a driver of obesity in humans: The insurance hypothesis

Nettle¹,

Andrews²,

Bateson³

2016

Behav Brain Sci

224

277

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Short abstract-Common sense says that obesity is the consequence of too much food. Adaptive reasoning says something rather different: individuals should store fat when access to food is insecure, to buffer themselves against future shortfall. Applied to humans, this principle suggests that food insecurity should be a risk factor for overweight and obesity. We provide a meta-analysis of the extensive epidemiological literature, finding that food insecurity robustly predicts high body weight, but only amongst women in high-income countries. We discuss the relevance of food insecurity to understanding the global obesity problem.Long abstract-Integrative explanations of why obesity is more prevalent in some sectors of the human population than others are lacking. Here, we outline and evaluate one candidate explanation, the insurance hypothesis (IH). The IH is rooted in adaptive evolutionary thinking: the function of storing fat is to provide a buffer against shortfall in the food supply. Thus, individuals should store more fat when they receive cues that access to food is uncertain. Applied to humans, this implies that an important proximate driver of obesity should be food insecurity rather than food abundance per se. We integrate several distinct lines of theory and evidence that bear on this hypothesis. We present a theoretical model that shows it is optimal to store more fat when food access is uncertain, and we review the experimental literature from non-human animals showing that fat reserves increase when access to food is restricted. We provide a meta-analysis of 125 epidemiological studies of the association between perceived food insecurity and high body weight in humans. There is a robust positive association, but it is restricted to adult women in high-income countries. We explore why this could be in light of the IH and our theoretical model. We conclude that whilst the IH alone cannot explain the distribution of obesity in the human population, it may represent a very important component of a pluralistic explanation. We also discuss insights it may offer into the developmental origins of obesity, dieting-induced weight gain, and Anorexia Nervosa.

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“…Overweight and obesity cause health problems such as diabetes and heart disease. A large amount of recent literature deals with obesity as a social health issue (e.g., Etilé, ; Smith, ; Swinburn et al ., ; Tomer, ), as well as a driver of mortality (e.g., Flegal et al ., ; Flegal et al ., ). The question arises whether contemporary weight gain and its health consequences are the result of an optimally chosen lifestyle in response to changes in relative prices, or whether people consume too much with respect to their long‐term preferences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limited Self-control, Obesity, and the Loss of Happiness

Stutzer

Meier

2015

Health Econ.

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. www.econstor.eu Terms of use: Documents in W I R T S C H A F T S W I S S E N S C H A F T L I C H E S Z E N T R U M ( W W Z ) D E R U N I V E R S I T Ä T B A S E L July 2007Limited Self-Control, Obesity and the Loss of Happiness Abstract: Obesity has become a major health issue. Research in economics has provided important insights as to how technological progress reduced the relative price of food and contributed to the increase in obesity. However, the increased availability of food might well have overstrained will power and led to suboptimal consumption decisions relative to people's own standards. We propose the economics of happiness as an approach to study the phenomenon. Based on proxy measures for experienced utility, it is possible to directly address whether certain observed behavior is suboptimal and therefore reduces a person's well-being. It is found that obesity decreases the well-being of individuals who report limited self-control, but not otherwise.JEL classifications: D12, D91, I12, I31

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Economic Stressors and the Demand for “Fattening” Foods

Cited by 14 publications

References 37 publications

Job-loss and weight gain in British adults: Evidence from two longitudinal studies

Job-loss and weight gain in British adults: Evidence from two longitudinal studies

Food insecurity as a driver of obesity in humans: The insurance hypothesis

Limited Self-control, Obesity, and the Loss of Happiness

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