TY  - JOUR
AU  - Rashad,Inas
TI  - Structural Estimation of Caloric Intake, Exercise, Smoking, and Obesity
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11957
PY  - 2006
Y2  - January 2006
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11957
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11957.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Inas Rashad Kelly
Queens College, CUNY
Economics Department
300 Powdermaker Hall
65-30 Kissena Boulevard
Flushing, NY 11367
Tel: (718) 997-5440
E-Mail: Inas.Kelly@qc.cuny.edu
AB  - 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.
ER  -