Economic Aspects of Obesity

In 2000, a French magazine proclaimed that “America is just a huge eating machine.” We Americans are becoming more obese; a conference in 2008 discussed the effect on individual behavior of issues such as food prices, wages and access to fast food. The papers presented at that conference are compiled in Economic Aspects of Obesity, edited by Michael Grossman and Naci Mocan (University of Chicago Press).

There are clear-cut economic causes and consequences of obesity, and individuals struggling to shed excess weight face enormous difficulties. Weight loss strategies are regularly announced – many are difficult to comprehend and conflict with previous pronouncements. Mike Luckovich published a cartoon in which a woman declares, “Finally, an understandable food pyramid,” looking at one that says “Eat less.” Not so easy – the television commercials are every more enticing and the Starbucks beverages are approaching Slurpee size.

For the entire book: Economic Aspects of Obesity

Why you get hungry watching television: Tabletop Directors

How many calories in the largest Slurpee? Almost 400. Nutritional value: Almost 0.