Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-t5pn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T15:56:13.863Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Behavioral Economics, Food Assistance, and Obesity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

David R. Just
David R. Just*
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York
Get access

Abstract

While there is mixed evidence of the impact of food assistance programs on obesity, there is general agreement that the food-insecure are at higher risk of obesity and obesity-related diseases. Food assistance programs, originally designed to overcome a lack of available food, now need to confront a very different problem: how to provide for the food-insecure while encouraging healthy lifestyles. This paper examines the potential to address these competing needs using traditional economic policies (manipulating information or prices) versus policies engaging behavioral economics and psychology.

Keywords

food assistancebehavioral economicsfood insecurityobesity
Type
Invited Papers
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , October 2006 , pp. 209 - 220
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Asp, E. H. 1999. “Factors Affecting Food Decisions Made by Individual Consumers.” Food Policy 24(2) 287–294.Google Scholar
Becker, G. S. 1965. “The Theory of the Allocation of Time.” Economic Journal 75(299): 493–517.Google Scholar
Bell, R., and Pliner, P. L. 2003. “Time to Eat: The Relationship Between the Number of People Eating and Meal Duration in Three Lunch Settings.” Appetite 41(2): 215–218.Google Scholar
Birch, L. L., and Fisher, J. O. 2000. “Mother's Child-Feeding Practices Influence Daughters' Eating and Weight.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 71(5): 1054–1061.Google Scholar
Bishop, J. A., Formby, J. P., and Zeager, L. A. 2000. “The Effect of Food Stamp Cashout on Undernutrition.” Economic Letters 67(1): 75–85.Google Scholar
Boon, B., Stroebe, W., Schut, H., and Jansen, A. 1998. “Food for Thought: Cognitive Regulation of Food Intake.” British Journal of Health Psychology 3(1): 27–40.Google Scholar
Cash, S. B., Sunding, D. L., and Zilberman, D. 2005. “Fat Taxes and Thin Subsidies: Prices, Diet, and Health Outcomes.” Presented at the 97th European Association of Agricultural Economists Seminar, Whiteknights Campus, University of Reading, England, April 21–22.Google Scholar
Chang, H. H., and Just, D. R. 2004. “Health Information Availability and the Consumption of Eggs: Are Consumers Bayesians?” Presented at the American Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, July 1–4.Google Scholar
Chern, W. S., and Rickertsen, K. 2003. Health, Nutrition and Food Demand. CABI Publishing: Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Chou, S.-Y., Grossman, M., and Saffer, H. 2004. “An Economic Analysis of Adult Obesity: Results from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.” Journal of Health Economics 23(3): 565–587.Google Scholar
Cornell, C. E., Rodin, J., and Weingarten, H. 1989. “Stimulus-Induced Eating When Satiated.” Physiology and Behavior 45(4): 695–704.Google Scholar
Cutler, D. M., Glaeser, E. L., and Shapiro, J. M. 2003. “Why Have Americans Become More Obese?,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 17(3): 93–118.Google Scholar
de Castro, J. M. 1994. “Family and Friends Produce Greater Social Facilitation of Food Intake Than Other Companions.” Physiology and Behavior 56(3): 445–455.Google Scholar
de Castro, J. M., and Brewer, E. 1992. “The Amount Eaten in Meals by Humans Is a Power Function of the Number of People Present.” Physiology and Behavior 51(1): 121–125.Google Scholar
Dhar, R., and Wertenbroch, K. 2000. “Consumer Choice Between Hedonic and Utilitarian Goods.” Journal of Marketing Research 37(1): 60–71.Google Scholar
Diliberti, N., Bordi, P. L., Conklin, M. T., Roe, L. S., and Rolls, B.J. 2004. “Increased Portion Size Leads to Increased Energy Intake in a Restaurant Meal.” Obesity Research 12(3): 562–568.Google Scholar
Drewnowski, A., and Darmon, N. 2005. “The Economics of Obesity: Dietary Energy Density and Energy Cost.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 82(1): 265S–273S.Google Scholar
Economic Research Service (ERS). 2005. “The Food Assistance Landscape: March 2005.” Report No. FANRR 28-6, ERS, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Edelman, B., Engell, D., Bronstein, P., and Hirsch, E. 1986. “Environmental Effects on the Intake of Overweight and Normal-Weight Men.” Appetite 7(1): 71–83.Google Scholar
Epstein, S. 1993. “Emotion and Self-Theory.” In Lewis, M. and Haviland, J. M., eds., Handbook of Emotions. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Food Marketing Institute. 1998. Trends in the United States: Consumer Attitudes and the Supermarket. Washington, D. C.: Food Marketing Institute.Google Scholar
Fox, M. K., and Cole, N. 2004. “Food Stamp Participants and Nonparticipants.” In Nutrition and Health Characteristics of Low-Income Populations (Vol. 1, No. E-FAN-04014-1). Economic Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Hausman, J.A., and MacKie-Mason, J. K. 1988. “Price Discrimination and Patent Policy.” Rand Journal of Economics 29(2): 253–265.Google Scholar
Just, D. R., Wansink, B., Mancino, L., and Schulze, W. D. 2006. “The Psychology and Economics of Obesity, Food Behavior, and Food Programs: A White Paper.” Report submitted to U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Kahneman, D., Knetsch, J. L., and Thaler, R. H. 1990. “Experimental Tests of the Endowment Effect and the Coase Theorem.” Journal of Political Economy 98(6): 1325–1348.Google Scholar
LaFrance, J. T. 1999. “U. S. Food and Nutrient Demand and the Effects of Agricultural Policies.” Working Paper No. 864, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Laibson, D. 1997. “Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 112(2): 443–477.Google Scholar
Lancaster, K. J. 1966. “A New Approach to Consumer Theory.” Journal of Political Economy 74(2): 132–157.Google Scholar
Loomes, G., and Sugden, R. 1982. “Regret Theory: An Alternative Theory of Rational Choice Under Uncertainty.” Economic Journal 92(368): 805–824.Google Scholar
Meyers, A.W., Stunkard, A.J., and Coll, M. 1980. “Food Accessibility and Food Choice: A Test of Schachter's Externality Hypothesis.” Archives of General Psychology 37(10): 1133–1135.Google Scholar
Miller, D. L., Bell, E. A., Peckman, C. L., Peters, J. C., and Rolls, B. J. 2000. “Effects of Dietary Fat, Nutrition Labels, and Repeated Consumption on Sensory-Specific Satiety.” Physiology and Behavior 71(1/2): 153–158.Google Scholar
Nayga, R. M. 2000. “Schooling, Health Knowledge and Obesity.” Applied Economics 32(7): 815–822.Google Scholar
Nestle, M. 2003. “Food Politics.” Keynote address, American Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meetings, Montreal, Quebec (August).Google Scholar
Nisbett, R. E. 1968. “Determinants of Food Intake in Human Obesity.” Science 159(3820): 1254–1255.Google Scholar
Oliveira, V., and Prell, M. 2004. “Sharing the Economic Burden: Who Pays for WIC's Infant Formula?” Amber Waves 2(4): 32–35.Google Scholar
Poothullil, J. M. 2002. “Role of Oral Sensory Signals in Determining Meal Size in Lean Women.” Nutrition 18(6): 479–483.Google Scholar
Rolls, B. J. 1986. “Sensory-Specific Satiety.” Nutrition Review 44(3): 93–101.Google Scholar
Rolls, B. J., Morris, E. L., and Roe, L. S. 2002. “Portion Size of Food Affects Energy Intake in Normal-Weight and Overweight Men and Women.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 76(6): 1207–1213.Google Scholar
Rolls, B. J., Roe, L. S., Kral, T.V.E., Meengs, J. S., and Wall, D. E. 2004. “Increasing the Portion Size of a Packaged Snack Increases Energy Intake in Men and Women.” Appetite 42(1): 63–69.Google Scholar
Rolls, B. J., Rowe, E. A., Rolls, E. T., Kingston, B., Megson, A., and Gunary, R. 1981. “Variety in a Meal Enhances Food Intake in Men.” Physiology and Behavior 26(2): 215–221.Google Scholar
Rubinstein, A. 1988. “Similarity and Decision-Making under Risk.” Journal of Economic Theory 46(1): 145–153.Google Scholar
Schroeter, C., Lusk, J., and Tyner, W. 2005. “Determining the Impact of Food Price and Policy Changes on Obesity.” Presented at the 97th European Association of Agricultural Economists Seminar, Whiteknights Campus, University of Reading, England, April 21–22.Google Scholar
Shefrin, H. 2000. Beyond Greed and Fear: Understanding Behavioral Finance and the Psychology of Investing. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar
Shiv, B., and Fedorikhin, A. 1999. “Heart and Mind in Conflict: Interplay of Affect and Cognition in Consumer Decision Making.” Journal of Consumer Research 26(3): 278–282.Google Scholar
Tuomisto, T., Tuomisto, M. T., Hetherington, M., and Lappalainen, R. 1998. “Reasons for Initiation and Cessation of Eating in Obese Men and Women and the Affective Consequences of Eating in Everyday Situations.” Appetite 30(2): 211–222.Google Scholar
U. S. Department of Agriculture. 2005. “A Short History of the Food Stamp Program.” Available at www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/rules/Legislation/history.htm (accessed May 10, 2005).Google Scholar
Ver Ploeg, M., Mancino, L., and Lin, B.-H. 2006. “Food Stamps and Obesity: Ironic Twist or Complex Puzzle?” Amber Waves 4(1): 32–37.Google Scholar
Volkow, N. D., Wang, G. J., Fowler, J. S., Logan, J., Jayne, M., Franceschi, D., Wong, C., Gatley, S.J., Gifford, A.N., Ding, Y. S., and Pappas, N. 2002. “‘Non-Hedonic’ Food Motivation in Humans Involves Dopamine in the Dorsal Striatum and Methylphenidate Amplifies This Effect.” Synapse 44(3): 175–180.Google Scholar
Wansink, B. 1996. “Can Package Size Accelerate Consumption Volume?” Journal of Marketing 60(3): 1–14.Google Scholar
Wansink, B. 2004. “Environmental Factors that Increase the Food Intake and Consumption Volume of Unknowing Consumers.” Annual Review of Nutrition 24(July): 455–479.Google Scholar
Wansink, B., and Deshpande, R. 1994. “‘Out of Sight Out of Mind’: The Impact of Household Stockpiling on Usage Rates.” Marketing Letters 5(1): 91–100.Google Scholar
Wansink, B., and Kim, J. 2004. “Bad Popcorn in Big Buckets: Portion Size Can Influence Intake as Much as Taste.” Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 37(5): 242–245.Google Scholar
Wansink, B., and van Ittersum, K. 2003. “Weight and Height and Shape and Size: When Do Peripheral Cues Drive Evaluation and Consumption?” Advances in Consumer Research 30(1): 363–365.Google Scholar
Wilde, P. E., McNamara, P. E., and Ranney, C. K. 1999. “The Effect of Income and Food Programs on Dietary Quality: A Seemingly Unrelated Regression Analysis with Error Components.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 81(4): 959–971.Google Scholar
Wilde, P. E., and Ranney, C. K. 2000. “The Monthly Food Stamp Cycle: Shopping Frequency and Food Intake Decisions in an Endogenous Switching Regression Framework.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 82(1): 200–213.Google Scholar