Limited Self-Control, Obesity and the Loss of Happiness

Obesity has become a major health issue. Research in economics has providedimportant insights as to how technological progress reduced the relative price of food andcontributed to the increase in obesity. However, the increased availability of food might wellhave overstrained will power and led to suboptimal consumption decisions relative topeople’s own standards. We propose the economics of happiness as an approach to study thephenomenon. Based on proxy measures for experienced utility, it is possible to directlyaddress whether certain observed behavior is suboptimal and therefore reduces a person’swell-being. It is found that obesity decreases the well-being of individuals who report limitedself-control, but not otherwise.