TY  - JOUR
AU  - Lu,Yang
AU  - Goldman,Dana
TI  - The Effects of Relative Food Prices on Obesity — Evidence from China: 1991-2006
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15720
PY  - 2010
Y2  - February 2010
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15720
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15720.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Yang Lu
4650 Sunset Blvd, Mailstop 30
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Tel: 323-361-8425
E-Mail: yalu@chla.usc.edu

Dana Goldman
Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics
University of Southern California
3335 S. Figueroa St, Unit A
Los Angeles, CA 90089-7273
Tel: (213) 821-7948
Fax: (213) 740-3460
E-Mail: dana.goldman@usc.edu
AB  - This paper explores the effects of relative food prices on body weight and body fat over time in China. We study a cohort of 15,000 adults from over 200 communities in China, using the longitudinal China Health and Nutrition Survey (1991-2006). While we find that decreases in the price of energy-dense foods have consistently led to elevated body fat, this price effect does not always hold for body weight. These findings suggest that changes in food consumption patterns induced by varying food prices can increase percentage body fat to risky levels even without substantial weight gain. In addition, food prices and subsidies could be used to encourage healthier food consumption patterns and to curb obesity.
ER  -