Obesity Kuznets Curve: International Evidence

NANIK WINDARTI, KAKINAKA Makoto, Professor

2018 | Tesis | Magister Ekonomika Pembangunan

The obesity epidemic has prevailed worldwide and is currently recognized as a global pandemic disease. Given the argument that various socioeconomic features contribute to substantial differences in obesity rates across countries, economic development can also be considered as one crucial factor of such variation. This study examines the relationship between economic development and each of the three weight related health status (overweight, obesity, and morbid obesity rates) over 130 countries during the period from 1975 to 2010 by applying the dynamic panel data analysis to mitigate possible endogeneity problems. The main results show a clear pattern of the obesity Kuznets curve, i.e., a non-linear relationship between a country�s income per capita and its weight-related health status, for both males and females. For low-income countries, as incomes increase, the weight-related health status deteriorates, so that an increase in incomes raises the health risk. In contrast, for high-income countries, as incomes increase, the weight-related health status improves, so that an increase in incomes reduces the health risk. Policy implications from our analysis include the argument that a strong initiative for health policy targeting obesity prevention is required for middle-income countries, many of which are currently experiencing high economic growth.

The obesity epidemic has prevailed worldwide and is currently recognized as a global pandemic disease. Given the argument that various socioeconomic features contribute to substantial differences in obesity rates across countries, economic development can also be considered as one crucial factor of such variation. This study examines the relationship between economic development and each of the three weight related health status (overweight, obesity, and morbid obesity rates) over 130 countries during the period from 1975 to 2010 by applying the dynamic panel data analysis to mitigate possible endogeneity problems. The main results show a clear pattern of the obesity Kuznets curve, i.e., a non-linear relationship between a country�s income per capita and its weight-related health status, for both males and females. For low-income countries, as incomes increase, the weight-related health status deteriorates, so that an increase in incomes raises the health risk. In contrast, for high-income countries, as incomes increase, the weight-related health status improves, so that an increase in incomes reduces the health risk. Policy implications from our analysis include the argument that a strong initiative for health policy targeting obesity prevention is required for middle-income countries, many of which are currently experiencing high economic growth.

Kata Kunci : obesity Kuznets curve; BMI; economic development