Food policies and obesity in low and middle income countries
Understanding the public health implication of fiscal policies is crucial to combat recently increasing overweight and obesity rates in many low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). This study examines the implication of food policies, mainly tariff rates on “unhealthy” foods, including sugar and co...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Artículo preliminar |
| Language: | Inglés |
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International Food Policy Research Institute
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143784 |
| _version_ | 1855520669049028608 |
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| author | Abay, Kibrom A. Ibrahim, Hosam Breisinger, Clemens |
| author_browse | Abay, Kibrom A. Breisinger, Clemens Ibrahim, Hosam |
| author_facet | Abay, Kibrom A. Ibrahim, Hosam Breisinger, Clemens |
| author_sort | Abay, Kibrom A. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Understanding the public health implication of fiscal policies is crucial to combat recently increasing overweight and obesity rates in many low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). This study examines the implication of food policies, mainly tariff rates on “unhealthy” foods, including sugar and confectionery products as well as fats and oils, and governments’ subsidies on individuals’ body weight outcomes. We compile several macro- and micro-level datasets that provide for several LMICs macro-level information on food policies and micro-level anthropometric data. We exploit temporal dynamics in tariff rates on “unhealthy” foods and governments’ spending on subsidies to estimate fixed effects models characterizing the evolution of body weight outcomes. We find that temporal dynamics in tariff rates on unhealthy and energy-dense foods are significantly and negatively associated with body weight. Conditional on several observable and time-invariant unobservable factors, a decrease in tariff rates on sugar and confectionary foods or fats and oils is associated with an increase in overweight and obesity rates. On the other hand, an increase in subsidy rates, as a share of government expenditure, is significantly associated with higher overweight and obesity rates. Interestingly, we find that the implications of these food policies are more pronounced among poorer individuals. This is intuitive because relatively poorer households are more likely to spend a larger share of their income on food consumption or unhealthy foods, and these types of households are beneficiaries of government subsidies in many LMICs. These findings have important implications for informing public health policies in LMICs, which are experiencing an unprecedented rise in overweight and obesity rates. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace143784 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publishDateRange | 2020 |
| publishDateSort | 2020 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1437842025-11-06T05:46:25Z Food policies and obesity in low and middle income countries Abay, Kibrom A. Ibrahim, Hosam Breisinger, Clemens health foods less favoured areas body mass index policies food policies health fiscal policies nutrition trade policies trade developing countries subsidies overweight obesity public health Understanding the public health implication of fiscal policies is crucial to combat recently increasing overweight and obesity rates in many low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). This study examines the implication of food policies, mainly tariff rates on “unhealthy” foods, including sugar and confectionery products as well as fats and oils, and governments’ subsidies on individuals’ body weight outcomes. We compile several macro- and micro-level datasets that provide for several LMICs macro-level information on food policies and micro-level anthropometric data. We exploit temporal dynamics in tariff rates on “unhealthy” foods and governments’ spending on subsidies to estimate fixed effects models characterizing the evolution of body weight outcomes. We find that temporal dynamics in tariff rates on unhealthy and energy-dense foods are significantly and negatively associated with body weight. Conditional on several observable and time-invariant unobservable factors, a decrease in tariff rates on sugar and confectionary foods or fats and oils is associated with an increase in overweight and obesity rates. On the other hand, an increase in subsidy rates, as a share of government expenditure, is significantly associated with higher overweight and obesity rates. Interestingly, we find that the implications of these food policies are more pronounced among poorer individuals. This is intuitive because relatively poorer households are more likely to spend a larger share of their income on food consumption or unhealthy foods, and these types of households are beneficiaries of government subsidies in many LMICs. These findings have important implications for informing public health policies in LMICs, which are experiencing an unprecedented rise in overweight and obesity rates. 2020-02-01 2024-05-22T12:16:52Z 2024-05-22T12:16:52Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143784 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Abay, Kibrom A.; Ibrahim, Hosam; and Breisinger, Clemens. 2020. Food policies and obesity in low and middle income countries. MENA RP Working Paper 28. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133679. |
| spellingShingle | health foods less favoured areas body mass index policies food policies health fiscal policies nutrition trade policies trade developing countries subsidies overweight obesity public health Abay, Kibrom A. Ibrahim, Hosam Breisinger, Clemens Food policies and obesity in low and middle income countries |
| title | Food policies and obesity in low and middle income countries |
| title_full | Food policies and obesity in low and middle income countries |
| title_fullStr | Food policies and obesity in low and middle income countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Food policies and obesity in low and middle income countries |
| title_short | Food policies and obesity in low and middle income countries |
| title_sort | food policies and obesity in low and middle income countries |
| topic | health foods less favoured areas body mass index policies food policies health fiscal policies nutrition trade policies trade developing countries subsidies overweight obesity public health |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143784 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT abaykibroma foodpoliciesandobesityinlowandmiddleincomecountries AT ibrahimhosam foodpoliciesandobesityinlowandmiddleincomecountries AT breisingerclemens foodpoliciesandobesityinlowandmiddleincomecountries |