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Obesity and health-related decisions: An empirical model of the determinants of weight status across the transition from adolescence to young adulthood

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  • Morales, Leonardo Fabio
  • Gordon-Larsen, Penny
  • Guilkey, David

Abstract

We estimate a structural dynamic model of the determinants of obesity. In addition to including many of the well-recognized endogenous factors mentioned in the literature as obesity determinants, we also model the individual's residential location as a choice variable, which is the main contribution of this paper to the literature. This allows us to control for an individual's self-selection into communities that possess the types of amenities in the built environment, which in turn affect their obesity-related behaviors such as physical activity (PA) and fast food consumption. We specify reduced form equations for a set of endogenous demand decisions, together with an obesity structural equation. The whole system of equations is jointly estimated by a semi-parametric full information log-likelihood method that allows for a general pattern of correlation in the errors across equations. Our model predicts a reduction in adult obesity of 7 percentage points as a result of a continued high level PA from adolescence into adulthood; a reduction of 0.7 (3) percentage points in adult obesity as a result of one standard deviation reduction in weekly fast food consumption for women (men); and a reduction of 0.02 (0.05) in adult obesity as a result of one standard deviation change in several neighborhood amenities for women (men). Another key finding is that controlling for residential self-selection has substantive implications. To our knowledge, this has not been yet documented within a full information maximum likelihood framework.

Suggested Citation

  • Morales, Leonardo Fabio & Gordon-Larsen, Penny & Guilkey, David, 2016. "Obesity and health-related decisions: An empirical model of the determinants of weight status across the transition from adolescence to young adulthood," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 46-62.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:23:y:2016:i:c:p:46-62
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2016.06.003
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health production; Public health; Urban analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • R52 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Land Use and Other Regulations

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