IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/poprpr/v34y2015i6p877-899.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effects of Household Technology on Body Mass Index among Chinese Adults

Author

Listed:
  • Chih-Chien Huang
  • Scott Yabiku
  • Jennie Kronenfeld

Abstract

Current public obesity intervention focuses on promoting programs that encourage exercise and healthy eating. Our study emphasizes that rapid technological changes may also have the potential to lead to obesity epidemics. This research investigates whether household technology launched in China during the last two decades has the potential to cause increases in body mass index (BMI). We hypothesize that adopting household technology is a contributory factor in BMI increase, independent of daily calorie consumption and energy expenditure in exercise. To test this hypothesis, we use longitudinal data from individuals aged 18–55 who participated in the 1997–2009 China Health and Nutrition Survey. Linear fixed-effects regression captures the effects of the dynamic processes of adopting household technology on BMI. All analyses are stratified by gender. The results show that adopting computers or air conditioners is associated with BMI increases in men, while adopting washing machines promotes BMI increases in women. Having a computer is associated with a decrease in BMI for women. Food-preparation technologies, such as refrigerators, microwaves, rice makers, and pressure cookers, are associated with BMI increases for both men and women. This study suggests that household technology ownership and BMI increases are linked, whereas changes in overall energy intake and exercise may not function as mediators for this relationship. Future public health policy may evaluate interventions focused on increasing low-intensity activities impacted by household technologies. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Chih-Chien Huang & Scott Yabiku & Jennie Kronenfeld, 2015. "The Effects of Household Technology on Body Mass Index among Chinese Adults," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(6), pages 877-899, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:34:y:2015:i:6:p:877-899
    DOI: 10.1007/s11113-015-9371-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11113-015-9371-z
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11113-015-9371-z?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. Jeffery, R.W. & French, S.A., 1998. "Epidemic obesity in the United States: Are fast foods and television viewing contributing?," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 88(2), pages 277-280.
    2. Lakdawalla, Darius & Philipson, Tomas, 2009. "The growth of obesity and technological change," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 283-293, December.
    3. ., 2014. "Introduction to health care evaluation," Chapters, in: Cost–Benefit Analysis and Health Care Evaluations, Second Edition, chapter 1, pages 3-28, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, April.
    5. David M. Cutler & Edward L. Glaeser & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2003. "Why Have Americans Become More Obese?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 93-118, Summer.
    6. Sue Bowden & Avner Offer, 1994. "Household appliances and the use of time: the United States and Britain since the 1920s," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 47(4), pages 725-748, November.
    7. Ng, Shu Wen & Norton, Edward C. & Popkin, Barry M., 2009. "Why have physical activity levels declined among Chinese adults? Findings from the 1991-2006 China health and nutrition surveys," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1305-1314, April.
    8. Cawley, John (ed.), 2014. "The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Obesity," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199359974.
    9. ., 2014. "Introduction to Part III," Chapters, in: Common Innovation, chapter 15, pages 133-134, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. World Bank, 2014. "World Development Indicators 2014," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 18237.
    11. Kobayashi, Masako & Kobayashi, Maiko, 2006. "The relationship between obesity and seasonal variation in body weight among elementary school children in Tokyo," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 253-261, June.
    12. repec:dau:papers:123456789/9988 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Chih-Chien Huang & Scott T. Yabiku & Stephanie L. Ayers & Jennie J. Kronenfeld, 2016. "The obesity pay gap: gender, body size, and wage inequalities—a longitudinal study of Chinese adults, 1991–2011," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 221-242, September.
    2. Chih-Chien Huang & Scott Yabiku, 2018. "Digital divide and body size disparities among Chinese adults," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(4), pages 109-126.

    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. Chih-Chien Huang & Scott T. Yabiku & Stephanie L. Ayers & Jennie J. Kronenfeld, 2016. "The obesity pay gap: gender, body size, and wage inequalities—a longitudinal study of Chinese adults, 1991–2011," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 221-242, September.
    2. Tafreschi, Darjusch, 2015. "The income body weight gradients in the developing economy of China," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 115-134.
    3. Costa-Font, Joan & Mas, Núria, 2016. "‘Globesity’? The effects of globalization on obesity and caloric intake," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 121-132.
    4. Pedro Gomis-Porqueras & Oscar Mitnik & Adrian Peralta-Alva & Maximilian D. Schmeiser, 2011. "The Effects of Female Labor Force Participation on Obesity," Working Papers 2011-16, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
    5. Shu Ng & Edward Norton & David Guilkey & Barry Popkin, 2012. "Estimation of a dynamic model of weight," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 413-443, April.
    6. Dreher, Axel & Fuchs, Andreas & Langlotz, Sarah, 2019. "The effects of foreign aid on refugee flows," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 127-147.
    7. Giuntella, Osea & Rieger, Matthias & Rotunno, Lorenzo, 2020. "Weight gains from trade in foods: Evidence from Mexico," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    8. Yakusheva, Olga & Kapinos, Kandice & Weiss, Marianne, 2011. "Peer effects and the Freshman 15: Evidence from a natural experiment," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 119-132, March.
    9. Pierre Dubois & Rachel Griffith & Aviv Nevo, 2014. "Do Prices and Attributes Explain International Differences in Food Purchases?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(3), pages 832-867, March.
    10. Vincenzo Atella & Joanna Kopinska, 2011. "Body weight of Italians: the weight of Education," CEIS Research Paper 189, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 23 Mar 2011.
    11. Costa-Font, Joan & Mas, Nuria & Navarro, Patricia, 2013. "Globesity: Is Globalization a Pathway to Obesity?," IESE Research Papers D/1057, IESE Business School.
    12. Eiji Yamamura, 2012. "Influence of body image in urbanized areas: differences in long-term changes in teenage body mass index between boys and girls in Japan," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 243-256, October.
    13. Strulik, Holger, 2014. "A mass phenomenon: The social evolution of obesity," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 113-125.
    14. Michaud, Pierre-Carl & Goldman, Dana P. & Lakdawalla, Darius N. & Zheng, Yuhui & Gailey, Adam H., 2012. "The value of medical and pharmaceutical interventions for reducing obesity," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 630-643.
    15. Costa-Font, Joan & Györi, Mario, 2020. "The weight of patriarchy? Gender obesity gaps in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    16. Costa, Dora L., 2023. "Overweight grandsons and grandfathers’ starvation exposure," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    17. Miomir Jovanović & Ljiljana Kašćelan & Aleksandra Despotović & Vladimir Kašćelan, 2015. "The Impact of Agro-Economic Factors on GHG Emissions: Evidence from European Developing and Advanced Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-21, December.
    18. Anderson, Patricia M. & Butcher, Kristin F. & Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore, 2019. "Understanding recent trends in childhood obesity in the United States," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 16-25.
    19. Wameq A. Raza & Ellen van de Poel & Arjun Bedi & Frans Rutten, 2016. "Impact of Community‐based Health Insurance on Access and Financial Protection: Evidence from Three Randomized Control Trials in Rural India," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(6), pages 675-687, June.
    20. Liu, Yaqin & Ferreira, Susana & Colson, Gregory & Wetzstein, Michael, 2013. "Obesity and Counseling," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 149947, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    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:kap:poprpr:v:34:y:2015:i:6:p:877-899. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.