TY  - JOUR
AU  - Burkhauser,Richard V.
AU  - Cawley,John
AU  - Schmeiser,Maximilian D.
TI  - Differences in the U.S. Trends in the Prevalence of Obesity Based on Body Mass Index and Skinfold Thickness
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15005
PY  - 2009
Y2  - May 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15005
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15005.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Richard V. Burkhauser
Cornell University
Department of Policy Analysis & Management
259 MVR Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-4401
Tel: 607/255-2097
Fax: 607/255-4071
E-Mail: rvb1@cornell.edu

John Cawley
3M24 MVR Hall
Department of Policy Analysis and Management
and Department of Economics
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY  14853
Tel: 607/255-0952
Fax: 607/255-4071
E-Mail: jhc38@cornell.edu

Maximilian D. Schmeiser
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Washington
DC
20551
Tel: 202-728-5882
E-Mail: max.schmeiser@frb.gov
AB  - There are several ways to measure fatness and obesity, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.  The primary measure for tracking the prevalence of obesity has historically been body mass index (BMI).  This paper compares long-run trends in the prevalence of obesity when obesity is defined using skinfold thickness instead of body mass index (BMI), using data from the full series of U.S. National Health Examination Surveys.  The results indicate that when one uses skinfold thicknesses rather than BMI to define obesity, the rise in the prevalence of obesity is detectable ten to twenty years earlier.  This underscores the importance of examining multiple measures of fatness when monitoring or otherwise studying obesity.
ER  -