Anne Case, Alicia Menendez. Sex differences in obesity rates in poor countries: Evidence from South Africa // Economics & Human Biology. Vol. 7. No 3. (December 2009). P. 271-282. Globally, men and women face markedly different risks of obesity. In all but of handful of (primarily Western European) countries, obesity is much more prevalent among women than men. We examine several potential explanations for this phenomenon. We analyze differences between men and women in reports and effects of potential underlying causes of obesity—childhood and adult poverty, depression, and attitudes about obesity. We evaluate the evidence for each explanation using data collected in an urban African township in the Cape Town metropolitan area. Three factors explain the greater obesity rates we find among women. Women who were nutritionally deprived as children are significantly more likely to be obese as adults, while men who were deprived as children face no greater risk. In addition, women of higher adult socioeconomic status are significantly more likely to be obese, which is not true for men. These two factors – childhood circumstances and adult SES – can fully explain the difference in obesity rates between men and women that we find in our sample. More speculatively, in South Africa, women's perceptions of an ‘ideal’ female body are larger than men's perceptions of the ‘ideal’ male body, and individuals with larger ‘ideal’ body images are significantly more likely to be obese.

Darius Lakdawalla, Tomas Philipson. The growth of obesity and technological change // Economics & Human Biology. Vol. 7. No 3. (December 2009). P. 283-293. This paper presents a dynamic theory of body weight and develops its implications. We argue that technological change has induced weight growth by making home- and market-production more sedentary and by lowering food prices through agricultural innovation. In addition, we illustrate that, while exercise and food intake are complements, reductions in exercise will always raise optimal body weight, as will increases in food intake. We also characterize how body weight varies with income, both within a country, and across countries. Within a country, income may have an inverted U-shaped relationship with body weight, due to the offsetting effects of the demand for food, and the demand for an ideal body weight. This can have important implications for the body weight impacts of public transfer programs. Across countries, however, mean weight is likely to be higher in richer countries. Finally, we present descriptive empirical evidence that illustrates the inverted U-shaped relationship between body weight and income in US males, and suggests the importance of secular trends in weight gain, which are consistent with the impacts of broad-based technological changes.

Brian P. McEvoy, Peter M. Visscher. Genetics of human height // Economics & Human Biology. Vol. 7. No 3. (December 2009). P. 294-306. Height is correlated with risk to certain diseases and various socio-economic outcomes. As an easy to observe and measure trait, it has been a classic paradigm in the emergence of fundamental concepts regarding inheritance and genetics. Resemblances in height between relatives suggest that 80% of height variation is under genetic control with the rest controlled by environmental factors such as diet and disease exposure. Nearly a century ago it was recognized that many genes were likely to be involved but it is only with recent advances in technology that it has become possible to comprehensively search the human genome for DNA variants that control height. About 50 genes and regions of the genome have been associated with height to date. These begin to explain the biological basis of height, its links to disease and aid our understanding of the evolution of human height. The genes discovered so far have a very small individual effect and hundreds, maybe thousands, more of even smaller effects are still lost in the genome. Despite a successful start to height gene mapping, there remain considerable theoretical, technological, and statistical hurdles to be overcome in order to unravel its full genetic basis.

Richard V. Burkhauser, John Cawley, Maximilian D. Schmeiser. The timing of the rise in U.S. obesity varies with measure of fatness // Economics & Human Biology. Vol. 7. No 3. (December 2009). P. 307-318. There are several ways to measure fatness and obesity, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. The primary measure for tracking the prevalence of obesity has historically been body mass index (BMI). This paper compares long-run trends in the prevalence of obesity when obesity is defined using skinfold thickness instead of BMI, using data from the full series of U.S. National Health Examination Surveys. The results indicate that when one uses skinfold thickness rather than BMI to define obesity, the rise in the prevalence of obesity is detectable 10–20 years earlier. This underscores the importance of examining multiple measures of fatness when monitoring or otherwise studying obesity.

Joerg Baten, Ines Pelger, Linda Twrdek. The anthropometric history of Argentina, Brazil and Peru during the 19th and early 20th century // Economics & Human Biology. Vol. 7. No 3. (December 2009). P. 319-333. This anthropometric study focuses on the histories of three important Latin American countries – Brazil, Peru, and Argentina – during the 19th century, and tests hypotheses concerning their welfare trends. While non-farm Brazil and Lima, Peru, started at relatively low height levels, Brazil made substantial progress in nutritional levels from the 1860s to the 1880s. In contrast, Lima remained at low levels. Argentinean men were tall to begin with, but heights stagnated until 1910. The only exception were farmers and landowners, who benefited from the export boom.

Hai Fang, Mir M. Ali, John A. Rizzo. Does smoking affect body weight and obesity in China? // Economics & Human Biology. Vol. 7. No 3. (December 2009). P. Pages 334-350. An inverse relationship between smoking and body weight has been documented in the medical literature, but the effect of cigarette smoking on obesity remains inconclusive. In addition, the evidence is mixed on whether rising obesity rates are an unintended consequence of successful anti-smoking policies. This study re-examines these relationships using data from China, the largest consumer and manufacturer of tobacco in the world that is also experiencing a steady rise in obesity rates. We focus on the impact of the total number of cigarettes smoked per day on individuals’ body mass index (BMI) and on the likelihood of being overweight and obese. Instrumental variables estimation is used to correct for the endogeneity of cigarette smoking. We find a moderate negative and significant relationship between cigarette smoking and BMI. Smoking is also negatively related to being overweight and obese, but the marginal effects are small and statistically insignificant for being obese. Quantile regression analyses reveal that the association between smoking and BMI is quite weak among subjects whose BMIs are at the high end of the distribution but are considerably ber among subjects in the healthy weight range. Ordered probit regression analyses also confirm these findings. Our results thus reconcile an inverse average effect of smoking on body weight with the absence of any significant effect on obesity. From a policy perspective these findings suggest that, while smoking cessation may lead to moderate weight gain among subjects of healthy weight, the effects on obese subjects are modest and should not be expected to lead to a large increase in obesity prevalence rates.

Joan Costa-Font, Daniele Fabbri, Joan Gil. Decomposing body mass index gaps between Mediterranean countries: A counterfactual quantile regression analysis // Economics & Human Biology. Vol. 7. No 3. (December 2009). P. 351-365. Wide cross-country variation in obesity rates has been reported between European Union member states. Although the existing cross-country differences have not been analyzed in depth, they contain important information on health production determinants. In this paper we apply a methodology for conducting standardized cross-country comparisons of body mass index (BMI). We draw on estimations of the marginal density function of BMI for Italy and Spain in 2003, two countries with similar GDP and socio-economic conditions. We produce different counterfactual distribution estimates using covariates (health production inputs) specified in a quantile regression. Our findings suggest that Spain-to-Italy BMI gaps among females are largely explained by cross-country variation in the returns to each covariate, especially for younger women. We find that adverse underlying determinants do not explain the gap observed in particular between younger Spanish females and their Italian counterfactuals; behavioural differences appear to be the key. We tentatively conclude that Spanish policy on obesity should target mainly younger females.

Martin Hiermeyer. Height and BMI values of German conscripts in 2000, 2001 and 1906 // Economics & Human Biology. Vol. 7. No 3. (December 2009). P. 366-375. We examine the height and weight of 320,000 German 18–22-year-old conscripts born between 1979 and 1982. We show that height and BMI outcomes are associated with the socio-economic status of a person. For example, we find a positive correlation between education and height and a negative one between education and BMI. A West-East and a North-South gradient in both height and BMI is found. Today, West German recruits are about 5.5 cm taller than their peers 43 years ago and about 12.5 cm taller than those 100 years ago, reflecting a substantial improvement in the biological standard of living. To this day, however, individuals of high socio-economic status reach an above-average height.

Jason E. Murasko. Socioeconomic status, height, and obesity in children // Economics & Human Biology. Vol. 7. No 3. (December 2009). P. 376-386. The substantial increase in the prevalence of child obesity over recent decades and its association with a number of negative health and economic outcomes suggests its b potential as an influence on the lifecourse development of health and productivity. This paper evaluates interactive effects between family socioeconomic status (SES) and height on child obesity in the United States. Using the 1999–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), the results of this paper confirm previous findings that taller children exhibit greater propensity towards obesity as measured by body mass index (BMI) and that obesity is inversely related to family SES as measured by poverty status. The analysis adds to the existing literature by showing that the magnitude of the SES–obesity association is larger in taller children. Age and sex patterns are evaluated that suggest the SES–height interaction persists through childhood and adolescence in males but is only evident in females during adolescence. Interaction effects are also shown to be most evident in white males and Hispanic females. Policy implications are discussed and directions for future work are suggested.

David C. Stifel, Susan L. Averett. Childhood overweight in the United States: A quantile regression approach // Economics & Human Biology. Vol. 7. No 3. (December 2009). P. 387-397. Although France is less affected by the rise in obesity than neighboring countries, the prevalence of obesity has increased, changing the distribution of this pathology in the population. We analyze this evolution by social status, education, income and gender, region of residence, using the three French national Health Surveys conducted in 1981, 1992 and 2003. The average body weight of both women and men has increased in France since 1981 and accelerated since the 1990s. This trend is obtained among all age groups. Nevertheless, this process did not affect all socioeconomic groups similarly. Geographical differences increased between north-east, where the prevalence of obesity is higher, and the Mediterranean region, where it is lower. Likewise, the gap between social and occupational categories has greatly widened: obesity has increased much faster among farmers and blue-collar workers than among managers and professionals. In contrast to women, poorer men are not more likely to be more obese than others. Our findings suggest that differences in BMI values increased substantially among social groups in France, in particular among women.

Thibaut de Saint Pol. Evolution of obesity by social status in France, 1981–2003 // Economics & Human Biology. Vol. 7. No 3. (December 2009). P. 398-404. Although France is less affected by the rise in obesity than neighboring countries, the prevalence of obesity has increased, changing the distribution of this pathology in the population. We analyze this evolution by social status, education, income and gender, region of residence, using the three French national Health Surveys conducted in 1981, 1992 and 2003. The average body weight of both women and men has increased in France since 1981 and accelerated since the 1990s. This trend is obtained among all age groups. Nevertheless, this process did not affect all socioeconomic groups similarly. Geographical differences increased between north-east, where the prevalence of obesity is higher, and the Mediterranean region, where it is lower. Likewise, the gap between social and occupational categories has greatly widened: obesity has increased much faster among farmers and blue-collar workers than among managers and professionals. In contrast to women, poorer men are not more likely to be more obese than others. Our findings suggest that differences in BMI values increased substantially among social groups in France, in particular among women.

Latifa Mohammad Baynouna, Anthony D. Revel, Nico J.D. Nagelkerke, Tariq M. Jaber, Aziza O. Omar, Nader M. Ahmed, Mohammad K. Naziruldeen, Mamdouh F. Al Sayed, Fuad A. Nour, Sameh Abdouni. Secular trend in height in Al Ain-United Arab Emirates // Economics & Human Biology. Vol. 7. No 3. (December 2009). P. 405-406. Correlation between cycles in human stature and those in economic variables is well established. A recent review of international trends in this area provided information from most parts of the world but none on Arabs in the Middle East or more specifically the gulf region. The United Arab Emirates experienced a transformation in economic and social life followed the discovery of oil in the late 1960s and the wealth that it generated. No data is available on human growth at this period of time because its population never had health services prior to the 1970s. A study on conventional cardiovascular risk factors in 2004–2005 included 817 randomly selected national adults (?18 years) from both genders. The relationship between height and age in this study showed both men and women have increased in height with time demonstrating the secular change in height most likely a result of changing socioeconomic factors.

H. Schutkowski, Editor. Between Biology and Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. P. xi + 310 incl. index // Economics & Human Biology. Vol. 7. No 3. (December 2009). P. 407. Book Review by A. Theodore Steegman Jr.