We examine the relationship between trait self-control and body weight. Data from a population representative household survey reveal that limited self-control is strongly associated with both objective and subjective measures of unhealthy body weight. Those with limited self-control are...

Using Add Health, a very comprehensive longitudinal data set of teenagers and young adults in the United States, we estimate a structural dynamic model of the determinants of obesity. In addition to including many of the well-recognized endogenous factors mentioned in the literature as obesity...

Increasing prevalence of obesity is a pressing public health issue in the Czech Republic as well as world-wide, affecting up to 2.1 billion people. In the Czech Republic, 20-25% of adults and an increasing number of children are obese now. Given that obesity is a chronic disease which is...

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant changes in where people work, eat and socialise. We use novel data on the food and non-alcoholic drink purchases from stores, takeaways, restaurants and other outlets to quantify the impact of the pandemic on the diets of a large, representative panel...

This paper applies probit regression models to a nationally representative household survey dataset collected in 2016-2017 to analyze the relationships between various socio-demographic variables and adult Body Mass Index (BMI) in Suriname. Our results indicate that women, the elderly, and...

Obesity is a major health concern in both developed and developing nations. Yet, evidence on the determinants of obesity is relatively limited. We contribute to the literature on the determinants of obesity by empirically examining the effects of energy poverty on obesity.Using 14 waves of the...

This paper examines whether and how changes in relationship status (i. e., cohabitation, marriage, separation, or divorce) affect individuals’ smoking behavior and body weight. Using German Socio-Economic Panel data, this study accounts for differences between treated (i. e., those affected by...

Eating disorders affect 12-25% of college women. Previous research established a positive correlation between sorority membership and eating disorders. We investigate a possible causal link between sororities and weight-related behaviors and eating disorders using data from the American College...

This paper uses longitudinal micro-evidence from the European Community Household Panel to investigate the obesity phenomenon in nine EU countries from 1998 to 2001. The author documents cross-country prevalence, trends and cohort-age profiles of obesity among adults and analyses the...

We study economic decision-making of 284 people with obesity and pre-diabetes who participated in a 6-months randomised controlled trial to control weight and prevent diabetes. To elicit preferences, we use incentive-compatible experimental tasks that participants completed during their medical...