TY  - JOUR
AU  - Cutler,David
AU  - Glaeser,Edward
AU  - Shapiro,Jesse
TI  - Why Have Americans Become More Obese?
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 9446
PY  - 2003
Y2  - January 2003
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9446
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9446.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
David M. Cutler
Department of Economics
Harvard University
1875 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA  02138
Tel: 617/496-5216
Fax: 617/496-8951
E-Mail: dcutler@harvard.edu

Edward L. Glaeser
Department of Economics
315A Littauer Center
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/495-0575
Fax: 617/495-7730
E-Mail: eglaeser@harvard.edu

Jesse M. Shapiro
University of Chicago
Booth School of Business
5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
Tel: 773/834-2688
Fax: 773-753-0563
E-Mail: jmshapir@uchicago.edu
AB  - Americans have become considerably more obese over the past 25 years.  This increase is primarily the result of consuming more calories.  The increase in food consumption is itself the result of technological innovations which made it possible for food to be mass prepared far from the point of consumption, and consumed with lower time costs of preparation and cleaning.  Price changes are normally beneficial, but may not be if people have self-control problems.  This applies to some population.
ER  -