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The income body weight gradients in the developing economy of China

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  • Tafreschi, Darjusch

Abstract

Existing theories predict the income gradient of individual body weight to change sign from positive to negative in process of economic development. However, there are only few empirical studies which test this hypothesis. This paper adds to the literature on that topic by investigating the case of China. Using individual and community data from 1991 to 2009 waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey regression analyses suggest that after controlling for important confounding factors (1) higher income is positively related to future growth of individuals’ BMI in less developed areas (i.e. BMI growth is 0.7–1.5 percentage points higher when comparing the richest with the poorest individuals), but negatively related to BMI growth in more developed areas (i.e. BMI growth is 0.8–1.6 percentage points lower for the richest individuals), and (2) that concentrations of overweight are “trickling down” to lower income ranks as regions become more developed. Moreover, the reversal of the income gradient appears to happen at earlier stages of development for females.

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  • Tafreschi, Darjusch, 2015. "The income body weight gradients in the developing economy of China," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 115-134.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:16:y:2015:i:c:p:115-134
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2014.02.001
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    11. Clément, Matthieu, 2017. "The income-body-size gradient among Chinese urban adults: A semiparametric analysis," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 253-270.
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    14. Li, H. & Wang, X. & Ren, Y., 2018. "Family Income and Health: Evidence from Food Consumption in China," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277074, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
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    16. Bertille Daran & Pierre Levasseur, 2022. "Is overweight still a problem of rich in sub-Saharan Africa? Insights based on female-oriented demographic and health surveys," Post-Print hal-03511042, HAL.
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    19. Conor Lennon, 2018. "Who pays for the medical costs of obesity? New evidence from the employer mandate," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(12), pages 2016-2029, December.
    20. Eva Deuchert & Sofie Cabus & Darjusch Tafreschi, 2014. "A Short Note On Economic Development And Socioeconomic Inequality In Female Body Weight," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(7), pages 861-869, July.
    21. Ren, Yanjun & Castro Campos, Bente & Loy, Jens-Peter & Brosig, Stephan, 2019. "Low-income and overweight in China: Evidence from a life-course utility model," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 18(8), pages 1753-1767.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    BMI; Overweight; Income gradient; Economic development; China; CHNS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development

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