The Super Size of America: An Economic Estimation of Body Mass Index and Obesity in Adults

Abstract

The increased prevalence of obesity in the US stresses the need for answers as to why this rapid rise has occurred. This paper employs micro-level data from the First, Second, and Third National Health and Nutrition xamination Surveys to determine the effects that state-level policies have on BMI and obesity. These policies, which include restaurants per capita, the gasoline tax, the cigarette tax, and clean indoor air laws, display many of the expected effects on obesity and explain a substantial amount of its trend. We control for individual-level measures of household income, years of formal schooling completed, and marital status.