Obesity and Food away from Home: What Drives the Socioeconomic Gradient in Excess Body Weight?

30 Pages Posted: 27 Nov 2019

See all articles by Christoph Strupat

Christoph Strupat

Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) - German Development Institute (DIE)

Maria Gabriela Farfan Bertran

World Bank

Laura Moritz

Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO)

Mario Negre Rossignoli

Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) - German Development Institute (DIE)

Renos Vakis

World Bank Group, Kenya

Date Written: November 22, 2019

Abstract

Rising obesity rates are one of the most challenging public health issues in many emerging economies. The extent to which the nutritional composition of food consumed away from home is behind this rise, and the links with socioeconomic status, is not yet well understood. This paper explores this question by combining a representative restaurant survey that includes detailed information on the nutritional composition of the most widely consumed meals in Metropolitan Lima and a representative household survey with anthropometric measures of adult women. The findings indicate that the nutritional quality in restaurants located in the food environment of the households is significantly associated with higher rates of obesity and overweight. Up to 15 percent of the socioeconomic gradient in obesity is attributable to restaurant food quality, with sodium being the main driver. This highlights the importance of considering the food environment to inform public health policies, particularly for the poor.

Suggested Citation

Strupat, Christoph and Farfan Bertran, Maria Gabriela and Moritz, Laura and Negre Rossignoli, Mario and Vakis, Renos, Obesity and Food away from Home: What Drives the Socioeconomic Gradient in Excess Body Weight? (November 22, 2019). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 9066, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3492149

Christoph Strupat (Contact Author)

Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) - German Development Institute (DIE) ( email )

Tulpenfeld 4
Bonn, 53113
Germany

Maria Gabriela Farfan Bertran

World Bank

1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Laura Moritz

Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO)

Theodor-Lieser-Str.2
Halle, 06120
Germany

Mario Negre Rossignoli

Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) - German Development Institute (DIE) ( email )

Tulpenfeld 4
Bonn, 53113
Germany

Renos Vakis

World Bank Group, Kenya ( email )

1818 H Street NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

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