IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ehbiol/v34y2019icp39-48.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The price of ultra-processed foods and beverages and adult body weight: Evidence from U.S. veterans

Author

Listed:
  • Powell, Lisa M.
  • Jones, Kelly
  • Duran, Ana Clara
  • Tarlov, Elizabeth
  • Zenk, Shannon N.

Abstract

The consumption of ultra-processed foods in the U.S. and globally has increased and is associated with lower diet quality, higher energy intake, higher body weight, and poorer health outcomes. This study drew on individual-level data on measured height and weight from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical records for adults aged 20 to 64 from 2009 through 2014 linked to food and beverage price data from the Council for Community and Economic Research to examine the association between the price of ultra-processed foods and beverages and adult body mass index (BMI). We estimated geographic fixed effects models to control for unobserved heterogeneity of prices. We estimated separate models for men and women and we assessed differences in price sensitivity across subpopulations by socioeconomic status (SES). The results showed that a one-dollar increase in the price of ultra-processed foods and beverages was associated with 0.08 lower BMI units for men (p ≤ 0.05) (price elasticity of BMI of −0.01) and 0.14 lower BMI units for women (p ≤ 0.10) (price elasticity of BMI of -0.02). Higher prices of ultra-processed foods and beverages were associated with lower BMI among low-SES men (price elasticity of BMI of −0.02) and low-SES women (price elasticity of BMI of −0.07) but no statistically significant associations were found for middle- or high-SES men or women. Robustness checks based on the estimation of an individual-level fixed effects model found a consistent but smaller association between the price of ultra-processed foods and beverages and BMI among women (price elasticity of BMI of −0.01) with a relatively larger association for low-SES women (price elasticity of BMI of −0.04) but revealed no association for men highlighting the importance of accounting for individual-level unobserved heterogeneity.

Suggested Citation

  • Powell, Lisa M. & Jones, Kelly & Duran, Ana Clara & Tarlov, Elizabeth & Zenk, Shannon N., 2019. "The price of ultra-processed foods and beverages and adult body weight: Evidence from U.S. veterans," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 39-48.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:34:y:2019:i:c:p:39-48
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2019.05.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X18302211
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ehb.2019.05.006?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Griliches, Zvi & Mason, William M, 1972. "Education, Income, and Ability," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(3), pages 74-103, Part II, .
    2. Smith, Travis A. & Biing-Hwan, Lin & Lee, Jonq-Ying, 2010. "Taxing Caloric Sweetened Beverages: Potential Effects on Beverage Consumption, Calorie Intake, and Obesity," Economic Research Report 95465, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Lisa M. Powell & Euna Han, 2011. "Adult Obesity and the Price and Availability of Food in the United States," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 93(2), pages 378-384.
    4. Andreyeva, T. & Long, M.W. & Brownell, K.D., 2010. "The impact of food prices on consumption: A systematic review of research on the price elasticity of demand for food," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(2), pages 216-222.
    5. Powell, Lisa M. & Bao, Yanjun, 2009. "Food prices, access to food outlets and child weight," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 64-72, March.
    6. Fletcher, Jason M. & Frisvold, David E. & Tefft, Nathan, 2010. "The effects of soft drink taxes on child and adolescent consumption and weight outcomes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(11-12), pages 967-974, December.
    7. Grossman, Michael & Tekin, Erdal & Wada, Roy, 2014. "Food prices and body fatness among youths," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 4-19.
    8. Chou, Shin-Yi & Grossman, Michael & Saffer, Henry, 2004. "An economic analysis of adult obesity: results from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 565-587, May.
    9. Shin-Yi Chou & Inas Rashad & Michael Grossman, 2008. "Fast-Food Restaurant Advertising on Television and Its Influence on Childhood Obesity," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(4), pages 599-618, November.
    10. Beydoun, May A. & Powell, Lisa M. & Wang, Youfa, 2008. "The association of fast food, fruit and vegetable prices with dietary intakes among US adults: Is there modification by family income?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(11), pages 2218-2229, June.
    11. Qi Zhang & Zhuo Chen & Norou Diawara & Youfa Wang, 2011. "Prices of Unhealthy Foods, Food Stamp Program Participation, and Body Weight Status Among U.S. Low-Income Women," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 245-256, June.
    12. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck94-1.
    13. Cutler, David M. & Lleras-Muney, Adriana, 2010. "Understanding differences in health behaviors by education," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-28, January.
    14. M. Christopher Auld & Nirmal Sidhu, 2005. "Schooling, cognitive ability and health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(10), pages 1019-1034, October.
    15. Acemoglu, Daron & Autor, David, 2011. "Skills, Tasks and Technologies: Implications for Employment and Earnings," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 12, pages 1043-1171, Elsevier.
    16. M A Colchero & Carlos Manuel Guerrero-López & Mariana Molina & Juan Angel Rivera, 2016. "Beverages Sales in Mexico before and after Implementation of a Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(9), pages 1-8, September.
    17. Falbe, J. & Thompson, H.R. & Becker, C.M. & Rojas, N. & McCulloch, C.E. & Madsen, K.A., 2016. "Impact of the Berkeley excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverage consumption," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(10), pages 1865-1871.
    18. Jakina Debnam, 2017. "Selection Effects and Heterogeneous Demand Responses to the Berkeley Soda Tax Vote," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 99(5), pages 1172-1187.
    19. Committee on Evaluating Progress of Obesity Prevention Effort & Food Nutrition Board & Institute of Medicine & of which Ronette Briefel is a member, "undated". "Evaluating Obesity Prevention Efforts: A Plan for Measuring Progress," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 094b9a584a2340c08ae1f9b1a, Mathematica Policy Research.
    20. Wada, Roy & Han, Euna & Powell, Lisa M., 2015. "Associations between soda prices and intake: Evidence from 24-h dietary recall data," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 54-60.
    21. M. Christopher Auld & Lisa M. Powell, 2009. "Economics of Food Energy Density and Adolescent Body Weight," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 76(304), pages 719-740, October.
    22. repec:mpr:mprres:7866 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Colchero, M.A. & Salgado, J.C. & Unar-Munguía, M. & Hernández-Ávila, M. & Rivera-Dommarco, J.A., 2015. "Price elasticity of the demand for sugar sweetened beverages and soft drinks in Mexico," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 129-137.
    24. David Stuckler & Martin McKee & Shah Ebrahim & Sanjay Basu, 2012. "Manufacturing Epidemics: The Role of Global Producers in Increased Consumption of Unhealthy Commodities Including Processed Foods, Alcohol, and Tobacco," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(6), pages 1-8, June.
    25. Tonatiuh Barrientos-Gutierrez & Rodrigo Zepeda-Tello & Eliane R Rodrigues & Arantxa Colchero-Aragonés & Rosalba Rojas-Martínez & Eduardo Lazcano-Ponce & Mauricio Hernández-Ávila & Juan Rivera-Dommarco, 2017. "Expected population weight and diabetes impact of the 1-peso-per-litre tax to sugar sweetened beverages in Mexico," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-15, May.
    26. Jason M. Fletcher & David Frisvold & Nathan Tefft, 2010. "Can Soft Drink Taxes Reduce Population Weight?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 28(1), pages 23-35, January.
    27. Powell, Lisa M., 2009. "Fast food costs and adolescent body mass index: Evidence from panel data," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 963-970, September.
    28. Euna Han & Lisa M. Powell, 2013. "Fast Food Prices And Adult Body Weight Outcomes: Evidence Based On Longitudinal Quantile Regression Models," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 31(3), pages 528-536, July.
    29. Sharon S Nakhimovsky & Andrea B Feigl & Carlos Avila & Gael O’Sullivan & Elizabeth Macgregor-Skinner & Mark Spranca, 2016. "Taxes on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages to Reduce Overweight and Obesity in Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(9), pages 1-22, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Beatriz Franco-Arellano & Lana Vanderlee & Mavra Ahmed & Angela Oh & Mary R. L’Abbé, 2020. "Consumers’ Implicit and Explicit Recall, Understanding and Perceptions of Products with Nutrition-Related Messages: An Online Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-20, November.
    2. Pineda, Elisa & Gressier, Mathilde & Li, Danying & Brown, Todd & Mounsey, Sarah & Olney, Jack & Sassi, Franco, 2024. "Review: Effectiveness and policy implications of health taxes on foods high in fat, salt, and sugar," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    3. Awad, Koroles & Ehmke, Mariah D. & McCluskey, Jill J. & Okrent, Abigail M., 2024. "Ultra-processed Food Demand across the Lifecycle: Implications for Obesity in the United States," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343976, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xin Xu & Jayachandran N Variyam & Zhenxiang Zhao & Frank J Chaloupka, 2014. "Relative Food Prices and Obesity in U.S. Metropolitan Areas: 1976-2001," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Gračner, Tadeja, 2021. "Bittersweet: How prices of sugar-rich foods contribute to the diet-related disease epidemic in Mexico," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Guy E.J. Faulkner & Paul Grootendorst & Van Hai Nguyen & Tatiana Andreyeva & Kelly Arbour-Nicitopoulos & Chris Auld & Sean B. Cash & John Cawley & Peter Donnelly & Adam Drewnowski & Laurette Dubé & R, 2011. "Economic Instruments for Obesity Prevention: Results of a Scoping Review and Modified Delphi Survey," Monash Economics Working Papers 31-11, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    4. Wada, Roy & Han, Euna & Powell, Lisa M., 2015. "Associations between soda prices and intake: Evidence from 24-h dietary recall data," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 54-60.
    5. Rafael Moreira Claro & Vargas Hernandez & Joel Alberto & Satoru Shimokawa & Euna Han & Sharada Keats & Steve Wiggins, 2015. "The Rising Cost of a Healthy Diet – Changing Relative prices of Foods in High- Income and Emerging Economies," Working Papers id:7250, eSocialSciences.
    6. Zhang, Yinjunjie & Palma, Marco A., 2018. "Revisiting the Effects of Sugar Tax on Demand Elasticities - Evidence from the BLP Demand Model," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 273978, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. Grossman, Michael & Tekin, Erdal & Wada, Roy, 2014. "Food prices and body fatness among youths," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 4-19.
    8. Han, Euna & Powell, Lisa M. & Isgor, Zeynep, 2012. "Supplemental nutrition assistance program and body weight outcomes: The role of economic contextual factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(12), pages 1874-1881.
    9. Lisa M. Powell & Frank J. Chaloupka, 2011. "Economic Contextual Factors and Child Body Mass Index," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Aspects of Obesity, pages 127-144, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Ou Yang & Peter Sivey & Andrea M. de Silva & Anthony Scott, 2020. "Parents' Demand for Sugar Sweetened Beverages for Their Pre‐School Children: Evidence from a Stated‐Preference Experiment," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(2), pages 480-504, March.
    11. McGeary, Kerry Anne, 2013. "The impact of state-level nutrition-education program funding on BMI: Evidence from the behavioral risk factor surveillance system," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 67-78.
    12. Cotti, Chad & Tefft, Nathan, 2013. "Fast food prices, obesity, and the minimum wage," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 134-147.
    13. Jakina Debnam, 2017. "Selection Effects and Heterogeneous Demand Responses to the Berkeley Soda Tax Vote," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 99(5), pages 1172-1187.
    14. Euna Han & Lisa M. Powell, 2013. "Fast Food Prices And Adult Body Weight Outcomes: Evidence Based On Longitudinal Quantile Regression Models," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 31(3), pages 528-536, July.
    15. Papoutsi, Georgia & Nayga, Rodolfo & Lazaridis, Panagiotis & Drichoutis, Andreas, 2013. "Nudging parental health behavior with and without children's pestering power: Fat tax, subsidy or both?," MPRA Paper 52324, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Georgia S. Papoutsi & Andreas C. Drichoutis & Rodolfo M. Nayga Jr., 2013. "The Causes Of Childhood Obesity: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 743-767, September.
    17. Ashkan Afshin & José L Peñalvo & Liana Del Gobbo & Jose Silva & Melody Michaelson & Martin O'Flaherty & Simon Capewell & Donna Spiegelman & Goodarz Danaei & Dariush Mozaffarian, 2017. "The prospective impact of food pricing on improving dietary consumption: A systematic review and meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-18, March.
    18. Julio C. Arteaga & Daniel Flores & Edgar Luna, 2021. "The effect of a soft drink tax in Mexico: evidence from time series industry data," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 65(2), pages 349-366, April.
    19. Lhila, Aparna, 2011. "Does access to fast food lead to super-sized pregnant women and whopper babies?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 364-380.
    20. Joselin Segovia & Mercy Orellana & Juan Pablo Sarmiento & Darwin Carchi, 2020. "The effects of taxing sugar-sweetened beverages in Ecuador: An analysis across different income and consumption groups," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ultra-processed foods and beverages; Food prices; Body mass index; Obesity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General
    • I00 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:34:y:2019:i:c:p:39-48. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622964 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.