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The Freer the Fatter? A Panel Study of the Relationship between Body-Mass Index and Economic Freedom

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Abstract

Along with the economic and technological developments of the past decades, obesity has become a growing public health problem. This study empirically investigates whether the large and widespread increases in body-mass index (BMI) that have been observed around the world are related to economic freedom, as measured and defined by the Economic Freedom of the World Index. Economic freedom is part of the environment in which individuals make choices about food intake and physical activity, and may encourage unhealthy behavior and affect body weight by changing the opportunity sets. It may for example affect the quality and quantity of foods available to consumers, the access to safety nets, and the access to environments for physical activity. The empirical analysis is based on a panel of 31 high-income countries and data for the period 1983 to 2008. It finds a positive and statistically significant relationship between the level of economic freedom and both the level of, and five-year change in, BMI. Decomposing the freedom index into sub-indices measuring economic freedom in five sub-areas (government, legal structure, sound money, trade, and regulations) shows that freedom in the regulations dimension is the most consistent contributor to this result.

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  • Ljungvall, Åsa, 2013. "The Freer the Fatter? A Panel Study of the Relationship between Body-Mass Index and Economic Freedom," Working Papers 2013:23, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2013_023
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    File URL: http://project.nek.lu.se/publications/workpap/papers/WP13_23.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Boysen, Ole & Bradford, Harvey & Boysen-Urban, Kirsten & Balie, Jean, 2018. "Taxing Highly Processed Foods: Impacts On Obesity And Underweight In Sub-Saharan Africa," 58th Annual Conference, Kiel, Germany, September 12-14, 2018 275849, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    3. Boysen, Ole & Boysen-Urban, Kirsten & Bradford, Harvey & Balié, Jean, 2019. "Taxing highly processed foods: What could be the impacts on obesity and underweight in sub-Saharan Africa?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 55-67.
    4. Eileen Africa & Odelia Van Stryp & Martin Musálek, 2021. "The Influence of Cultural Experiences on the Associations between Socio-Economic Status and Motor Performance as Well as Body Fat Percentage of Grade One Learners in Cape Town, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-14, December.
    5. Joshua C. Hall & Brad R. Humphreys & Jane E. Ruseski, 2018. "Economic Freedom and Exercise: Evidence from State Outcomes," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 84(4), pages 1050-1066, April.
    6. Joshua C. Hall & Brad R. Humphreys & Jane E. Ruseski, 2015. "Economic Freedom and Participation in Physical Activity," Working Papers 15-17, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    body-mass index; obesity; economic freedom; economic freedom of the world index; health production; panel;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • P10 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - General

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