Working Paper: NBER ID: w21277
Authors: Elizabeth Frankenberg; Jessica Y Ho; Duncan Thomas
Abstract: With populations aging and the epidemic of obesity spreading across the globe, global health risks are shifting toward non-communicable diseases. Innovative biomarker data from recently conducted population-representative surveys in lower, middle and higher income countries are used to describe how four key biological health risks – hypertension, cholesterol, glucose and inflammation – vary with economic development and, within each country, with age, gender and education. As obesity rises in lower income countries, the burden of non-communicable diseases will rise in roughly predictable ways and the costs to society are potentially very large. Investigations that explain cross-country differences in these relationships will have a major impact on advancing understanding of the complex interplay between biology, health and development.
Keywords: biological health risks; economic development; noncommunicable diseases; obesity; health disparities
JEL Codes: I15; O10
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| rising obesity (I14) | increased NCDs (I12) |
| lifestyle (D15) | hypertension (I12) |
| higher total cholesterol (G32) | increased cardiovascular risks (I12) |