Dollars and pounds: the impact of family income on childhood weight

This article examines the impact of family income on childhood weight status for children in the United States using matched mother-child data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY 79). Instrumental variable (IV) models, family Fixed Effects (FE) models and family Fixed Effects IV (FEIV) models are estimated in order to control for causality. The results suggest that although the prevalence of childhood obesity is higher in low-income families in the sample, family income might be acting primarily as a proxy for other unobserved characteristics that determine the child's weight status rather having a major direct causative role in determining the child's weight status.     

FAT TAXES AND OTHER INTERVENTIONS WON'T CURE OBESITY

Many countries are either introducing or proposing to introduce taxes on fat in foods as an attempt to curb growing rates of obesity. It is argued here that such taxes would be uneconomic, ineffective, discriminate racially, encourage rent‐seeking behaviour and result in various adverse unintended consequences.     

Childhood obesity and the income gradient: evidence from Australia

This article examines the dynamic nature of human capital formation in the context of childhood obesity and the association of household income and childhood obesity in Australia using the first five waves of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Our results show a strong evidence of dynamic nature of child obesity: the lag obesity is a significant and robust predictor of obesity in the current period. We also found that the main channel for childhood obesity is inter-generational trait: the probability of obesity in children born to an obese mother or father is 15% higher than that of other children. Other important determinants are lifestyle factors, including the consumption of drinks with a high sugar content and the amount of time watching TV. Income becomes an insignificant determinant of childhood obesity once we control for unobserved individual heterogeneity.     

Evaluation of commercial weight‐loss programmes in Greece

The objective was to evaluate the success of commercial weight‐loss programmes and define areas that need development in the Greek weight‐loss industry. A total of 973 people (217 men and 756 women), all customers of the same slimming company, participated in the study. Subjects were enrolled in a weight‐loss programme that lasted for a year. Body weight (BW) and height was measured at baseline and at the end of the treatment. For 470 participants, BW was also measured 1 year after the end of the programme (follow‐up). We evaluated alterations in initial and final BW, as well in body mass index (BMI) categorization. Sixty‐six women were allowed to start the programme, although underweight and 47.3% of the participants enrolled with a normal BMI. At the end of the treatment, 124 persons were underweight. Most subjects with a BMI >40 at baseline remained at the same BMI category after the implementation of the programme; however, this was a small group (n = 8). Most subjects (67.3%) remained at the same BMI category after treatment. One year after the completion of the programme, all participants presented significantly higher BW compared with that at the end of the programme. Results suggest that economic gaining is the priority for weight‐loss companies in Greece. The employed staff in its majority is neither nutritionists, nor dieticians, but employees well‐trained on marketing, who are being paid accordingly to their sales. Thus, many customers who are either underweight or of normal BW are enrolled in weight‐loss programmes for the company's financial benefit and are sold programmes with the use of appliances of questionable scientific validation.     

The family meal as an ideal: Children’s perceptions of foodwork and commensality in everyday life and feasts

The present article concerns meals from the point of view of children, focusing on structural and sociocultural aspects of meals in a Western context in general, and Sweden in particular. The aim was to study children's perceptions of meals with regard to what, where and with whom meals are eaten and how meals are made. The method used was an internet‐based, ethnological questionnaire, which is a qualitative method in which participants share their experiences and values regarding a certain topic of interest in writing. A hundred and twelve Swedish children were included. The children almost exclusively chose to write about family meals. These meals were described as well‐structured and organized, and were often portrayed in an idealized way, with family members sharing proper meals at home, spending an enjoyable time together with a nice atmosphere and good conversation. The children made a distinction between everyday meals and festive meals, where the main differences were that festive meals were more prone to include extended family and friends besides the nuclear family, and were described in a more exceptional way with regard to what is served and mealtime conditions. The article concludes that the family meal functioned as a way to construct the family and as a site where children acquire norms and values about meals and family identity, but they did so in an active way, by breaking rules and by challenging norms, thereby also contributing to change. The changing nature of the family meal was also seen in an extended proper meal and the commensal aspects surrounding mealtime, as commensality included both commensal eating and commensal foodwork.     

Family-based treatment for obesity in tweens: a three-year longitudinal follow-up study

Children's increasing obesity worldwide is creating negative health and socioeconomic drawbacks. To find the determinants of obesity, this research looked at the influence of (1) media usage; (2) advertising messages/brand recognition; and (3) communication or lack of communication between parents and their children on obesity and food-related Purchase Influence Attempts (PIAs) of tweens. A 3-year longitudinal follow-up study was conducted with 68 families whose children were either obese or at risk of becoming obese. The subjects were divided into the following four groups: (1) media amount was controlled; (2) brand recognition was controlled; (3) communication channel of family members was controlled; and (4) all three conditions were controlled. Our results showed significant weight-loss and reduction in PIAs in all groups except in group 2 (brand recognition controlled). This work shows the importance of changing habits using behavioural treatment and the importance of communication among family members on obesity prevention.     

Socio-economic analysis of U.K. home accidents

Abstract

Drowning is the third commonest cause of accidental death of children in the UK and many children drown in domestic swimming pools. Concern has been raised about the design and safety of the covers used on domestic swimming pools since the majority of drowning and near-drowning incidents occur in pools with covers on. Swimming pool covers are a diverse range of products and fulfil a number of functions. This diversity in their design and the associated hazards necessitated a multidisciplinary approach to their evaluation. A study of the epidemiology of drownings was carried out in order to specify the risks of swimming pool covers, together with a study of the market and a survey of pool owners and their attitudes to safety. The risks of swimming pool covers were then evaluated by engineering, materials and ergonomics testing which included simulation of both the user and the products. This study is an example of the need for a mix of test methods and types of simulations in order to provide an overall statement of the safety of some consumer products. Results showed that the floating, heat retaining covers used on the majority of UK domestic pools possibly add to the intrinsic risks of a swimming pool. Winter debris covers, although appearing to seal the pool and considered by the majority of owners to make pools safer, were shown to allow children relatively easy access under the cover.     

Obesity and perceived work discrimination in Spain

Obesity is increasingly becoming a source of discrimination in many domains of living, including at the workplace. In this study, we estimate obesity-related discrimination in work settings in Spain and explore its potential sources. We use data from the European Health Interview Survey conducted in 2009–2010. Our models control for a comprehensive set of demographic, socioeconomic, health, and work-related sickness characteristics. We run separate models for women and men, and stratify by type of occupation and by area obesity prevalence. Our results indicate that weight-related discrimination in work settings in Spain is concentrated among women with morbid obesity, particularly among those working in customer-facing jobs and living in areas with low-obesity prevalence. These findings emphasize the persistence of the gendered nature of obesity-related discrimination, and provide evidence of a form of induced statistical discrimination. Employers’ expectations of lower returns from obese workers in customer facing jobs might be driven by customers’ preferences caused by social stigma. Furthermore, the role of area-obesity prevalence highlights the impact of cultural social norms even within the same country.     

Why Do Some Consumers Make Unhealthy Food Choices?

This research examines the impact of gender, age, and education on food choices and addresses issues of causality in these observed relationships; a logit model was used to test the mediation effects and hypotheses. The results from a self-administered online survey indicate that gender and education are two key predictors of consumers’ food choices for their children. These findings are further explained by attitudes toward obesity. Specifically, female consumers and parents with lower levels of formal education tend to select food products that are nutritionally inferior because they are not necessarily concerned about their child’s weight and do not usually restrict their child’s food and diet. This research advances a causal mechanism that explains unexpected consumers’ food choices; it essentially proposes and tests two mediators—restrictions of a child’s weight and concerns about a child’s weight—of the relationship between key demographic variables and consumers’ food choices.     

Overeating in all-you-can-eat buffet: paying before versus paying after

A widespread meal-serving system commonly blamed for contributing to the obesity epidemic is the all-you-can-eat buffet, where customers can help themselves to as much food as they wish to eat in a single meal for a fixed entry price. We set forth the hypothesis that buffet restaurants’ practice of collecting the price in advance, rather than at the end of the meal, encourages overeating. Viewing advance payment as a token of disrespectful treatment, we first establish this result theoretically by extending two recent and competing models on buffet behaviour to take account of the customer’s treatment experience. We then report the results of two experiments conducted in a sushi restaurant which support our hypothesis. The experiments reveal, ceteris paribus, that paying for the buffet meal after eating reduces sushi consumption by about 4.5 units, as compared to paying before eating. The result bears a straightforward and simple policy implication: To help reduce obesity, buffet restaurants should be banned from collecting the price in advance.