Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/127446 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Papers No. 196
Publisher: 
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Courant Research Centre - Poverty, Equity and Growth (CRC-PEG), Göttingen
Abstract: 
The rather small literature on obesity in developing countries mainly uses descriptive statistics and cross section analysis to focus on rising income levels as the source of rapidly increasing obesity rates. This paper uses a new panel dataset comprised of WHO and World Bank data for 126 low- and middle income countries to focus on rapid and urbanization as the main driver of rising obesity levels. The results of the fixed effects estimation suggest that urbanization and lifestyle changes associated with the 'Nutrition Transition' are responsible for the phenomenon. Moreover, time invariant effects such as tradition and culture account for the differences in overweight and obesity rates across countries. These findings raise new questions and open up paths for further research and can also lead to direct policy implications drawn from the 'Urban Agriculture' literature.
Subjects: 
obesity
nutrition transition
developing countries
JEL: 
I12
I18
P46
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
393.36 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.