CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF OBESITY AMONG THE ELDERLY

在过去的几个世纪里，平均体重一直在上升，但在过去的几十年里，体重和肥胖的增长尤其迅速，影响了所有年龄段的人。虽然儿童和工作年龄成年人的体重增长受到了最多的关注，但可以说，超重对接近老年和老年人的公共卫生影响最大。我们建议研究这些人群中体重的决定因素，以及体重对他们健康的影响。为了指导研究，我们将开发一个体重增加的动态经济模型，以说明食品价格、运动量、收入和体重之间的关系。实证调查将从一些描述性分析开始，这些分析旨在通过社会经济地位和其他人口特征来描述体重和体重增加的年龄变化特征。然后我们转向重量的决定因素。我们建议探讨几个关键因素对体重的影响：食品价格、退休、收入、配偶健康和职业特征。我们提出了一些初步证据，表明食品价格和退休对老年人和接近老年人的体重都有实质性影响，这些影响与理论的预测一致。

Average weight has risen over the past several centuries, but the last few decades have witnessed a particularly rapid rise in weight and obesity that has affected individuals of all ages. While weight growth in children and working-aged adults has received the most attention, the public health consequences of overweight are arguably greatest for the near-elderly and elderly. We propose to study the determinants of weight in this population, and the consequences of weight for their health. To guide the research, we will develop a dynamic economic model of weight gain that illustrates the relationships between food prices, exercise availability, income, and weight. The empirical investigation will begin with some descriptive analysis designed to characterize the changing age-profile of weight and weight gain, by socioeconomic status and other demographic characteristics. We then turn to the determinants of weight. We propose to explore the impact on weight of several key forces: food prices, retirement, income, spousal health, and occupational characteristics. We present some preliminary evidence that both food prices and retirement have substantial effects on weight among the elderly and near-elderly, effects that are in line with the predictions of the theory. Finally, we explore the consequences of weight for health and health expenditures, if any. We begin by characterizing the association between weight and health-related outcomes over the latter part of the life-cycle. We focus in particular on whether the associations between weight and poor health change with age and with socioeconomic status. We then propose to study the causal links between obesity and health. We will use geographic variation in food prices, as well as variation generated by exemptions of food from sales tax; these serve as instruments for weight. We will explore the effect of this variation in weight on health, and the direct effect of price variation on nutritional status. Finally, we will examine whether the impacts of obesity on health can be mitigated by health insurance.