Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
In my own research, I have examined the relationship to marriage and weight gain. A study by Jay Bhattacharya, Kate Bundorf, Noemi Pace and Neeraj Sood found that health insurance may actually increase body mass. According to the authors: “We find weak evidence that more generous insurance coverage increases body mass index. We find…
According to Economix, countries whose people spend more time eating have a lower obesity rates.
Rural children are more likely to be overweight than urban children, despite the fact that children living in urban areas engage in less physical activity.
Many economists and public plicy researchers have found that cigarette taxes reduce smoking. This means that cigarette taxes must be good for your health…right? A study by Baum (2009) claims that cigarette taxes may improve health, but not by as much as previously thought. The paper finds that increasing the cigarette tax decreases smoking, but…
Do people gain weight after marriage? A paper by Jeffrey and Rick (2002) says yes. Using data collected from 2528 workers over a 2 year period, the authors estimated the effect of marriage and divorce on weight gain. They found the following: Getting married increases BMI by 0.70 for men and 0.96 for women. For…
Many Americans are dissatisfied with how they look. They want to be thinner or have bigger muscles or have larger breasts or have fuller lips. The diet industry, the plastic surgery industry, the fitness industry all make money because people are dissatisfied with how they look. How can you be happy with your looks? As…
Wal-Mart increases real incomes by lowering prices. The purchasing power increase makes buying fresh fruit and vegetables more affordable for the average consumer. At least this is what Charles Courtemanche and Art Carden found. HT: Marginal Revolution
A Health Economics paper by Timothy K. M. Beatty finds that “households who make more frequent, smaller food purchases buy healthier foods than households who make fewer, larger purchases. These households are more likely to purchase foods with a lower share of total calories from fats, saturated fats and a larger share of calories from…
The New York Times writes that its “Better to Be Fat and Fit Than Skinny and Unfit.”
The BBC recently reported that a Durham University professor David Hunter is claiming that obesity is such a problem that its “…threat to our future health is just as significant as the current security threat.” What is Dr. Hunter’s solution? He said that bigger warning labels, changes in the taxation of “unhealthy” foods, and even…