In order to explain the growth of obesity in industrialized and transition economies, a behavioral approach to food intake and overconsumption of calories is presented. It is argued that changes in food consumption patterns are one of the main drivers behind the imbalance of calories consumed...

The purpose of this paper is to explain the main social and economic facts concerning obesity in a way that substantially improves upon existing economic theory. In contrast to existing theory, a number of recent health science writers have explained persuasively that weight gain or loss is not...

"The NBER Bulletin on Aging and Health provides summaries of publications like this. You can sign up to receive the NBER Bulletin on Aging and Health by email. Excess body weight or body fat hinders performance of military duties. As a result, the U.S. military has weight-for-height and percent...