Working Paper: NBER ID: w11957
Authors: Inas Rashad
Abstract: The escalating rate of obesity in the US highlights the importance of understanding the causes for this rise. In this paper I employ the First, Second, and Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys to estimate a structural model of the determinants of adult obesity. To control for the potential endogeneity of some explanatory variables, such as caloric intake (adjusted for activity level) and smoking, a set of reduced form equations for these outcomes is estimated simultaneously with the obesity equation. To identify each equation, I use an array of state-level characteristics as instrumental variables. Trends in these variables shed light on the sources of the rapid increase in obesity since 1980.
Keywords: Obesity; Caloric Intake; Exercise; Smoking
JEL Codes: I10; I12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| caloric intake (D10) | BMI (I12) |
| smoking (L66) | BMI (I12) |
| higher education (I23) | BMI (I12) |
| higher income (D31) | BMI (I12) |
| availability of inexpensive restaurant meals (L81) | rising obesity rates (I14) |
| decrease in smoking rates (I12) | rising obesity rates (I14) |