social comparisons influencing individual Body Mass Index (BMI). I find that in particular the average BMI of individuals in …. These two results contradict most theories of social comparisons. -- Imitative obesity ; relative obesity ; social contagion … ; comparison ; weight ; BMI ; life satisfaction …

. -- Body mass index BMI ; comparisons ; imitation ; happiness ; peer effects ; dieting ; mental health ; well-being ; obesity …If human beings care about their relative weight, a form of imitative obesity can emerge (in which people … subconsciously keep up with the weight of the Joneses). Using Eurobarometer data on 29 countries, this paper provides cross …

that longitudinal data on BMI are needed. We suggest a theory of imitation - where utility depends on relative weight - in … psychological health of approximately 0.3 GHQ points. Comparisons also matter. For a given level of BMI, we find that people who are … British population view themselves as overweight, and that happiness and mental health are worse among fatter people in both …

If human beings care about their relative weight, a form of imitative obesity can emerge (in which people … subconsciously keep up with the weight of the Joneses). Using Eurobarometer data on 29 countries, this paper provides cross …-sectional evidence that overweight perceptions and dieting are influenced by a person's relative BMI, and longitudinal evidence from the …

individual-specific fixed effects (using the BHPS data set). It finds declining effects of the four main variables of interest …

this paper we assess for the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) data set from 1991-2008 how life satisfaction interacts …