There is an increasing perception among policy makers that food stamp benefits contribute positively to adult obesity …

formation. This paper tests for peer effects in obesity in a novel way that addresses these challenges. It addresses the … reflection problem by using the alter's genetic risk score for obesity, which is a significant predictor of obesity, is … Adolescent Health, we find evidence of positive peer effects in weight and obesity; having a sibling with a high genetic …

This paper is the first to use the method of instrumental variables to estimate the causal impact of youth obesity on U … the BMI of the child's biological mother. IV estimates indicate that obesity raises annual medical care costs by $1 …,354 (in 2013 dollars) or 159%, which is considerably higher than previous estimates of the association of youth obesity with …

The effects of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on obesity have been the focus of much debate … quasi-experimental variation in SNAP benefit amount on adult obesity. Children of SNAP households qualify for free in … for SNAP households. We find that increases in SNAP benefits have no effect on obesity levels for the full sample of those …

In this paper, we investigate the effects of trade in foods on obesity in Mexico. To do so, we match data on Mexican … imports from the U.S. explains about ten percent of the rise in obesity prevalence among Mexican women between 1988 and 2012 …. Pro-obesity effects are driven by areas more exposed to unhealthy food imports. We also find evidence in favour of a price …