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Soda Consumption in the Tropics: The Trade-Off between Obesity and Diarrhea in Developing Countries

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  • Patricia I. Ritter

    (University of Connecticut)

Abstract

This paper exploits a natural experiment in Peru and finds evidence that a sharp reduction in the price of soda increased its consumption, increased obesity rates and reduced diarrhea prevalence among women without piped water at home. These results suggest that some women are substituting soda for contaminated water, facing a trade-off between diarrhea and obesity. Addi-tionally, it finds that the effect on obesity is significantly greater among women of very low height, suggesting that early life undernutrition plays an important role in the effect on obesity.

Suggested Citation

  • Patricia I. Ritter, 2018. "Soda Consumption in the Tropics: The Trade-Off between Obesity and Diarrhea in Developing Countries," Working papers 2018-16, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised Aug 2020.
    • Handle: RePEc:uct:uconnp:2018-16
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Patricia I. Ritter, 2019. "The Effect of Piped Water at Home on Childhood Overweight Rate. Experimental Evidence from Urban Morocco," Working papers 2019-02, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised Feb 2021.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Obesity; diarrhea; soft drinks; clean water;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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