TY - JOUR
T1 - Food prices and overweight patterns in Italy
AU - Salmasi, Luca
AU - Pieroni, L.
AU - Lanari, D.
AU - Salmasi, L.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - In this paper, we examine the role of relative food prices in determining the recent increase in body weight in Italy. Cross-price elasticities of unhealthy and healthy foods estimated by a demand system provide a consistent framework to evaluate substitution effects, when a close association is assumed between unhealthy (healthy) foods and more (less) energy-dense foods. We used a dataset constructed from a series of cross-sections of the Italian Household Budget Survey (1997-2005) to obtain the variables of the demand system, which accounts for regional price variability. The relative increase in healthy food prices was found to produce nontrivial elasticities of substitution towards higher relative consumption of unhealthy foods, with effects on weight outcomes. In addition, these changes were unevenly distributed among individuals and were particularly significant for those who were poorer and had less education. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.
AB - In this paper, we examine the role of relative food prices in determining the recent increase in body weight in Italy. Cross-price elasticities of unhealthy and healthy foods estimated by a demand system provide a consistent framework to evaluate substitution effects, when a close association is assumed between unhealthy (healthy) foods and more (less) energy-dense foods. We used a dataset constructed from a series of cross-sections of the Italian Household Budget Survey (1997-2005) to obtain the variables of the demand system, which accounts for regional price variability. The relative increase in healthy food prices was found to produce nontrivial elasticities of substitution towards higher relative consumption of unhealthy foods, with effects on weight outcomes. In addition, these changes were unevenly distributed among individuals and were particularly significant for those who were poorer and had less education. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.
KW - 2001
KW - Elasticity of substitution
KW - Health Policy
KW - Healthy and unhealthy foods
KW - Household survey data
KW - Overweight and obesity
KW - 2001
KW - Elasticity of substitution
KW - Health Policy
KW - Healthy and unhealthy foods
KW - Household survey data
KW - Overweight and obesity
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/117973
U2 - 10.1007/s10198-011-0350-y
DO - 10.1007/s10198-011-0350-y
M3 - Article
VL - 14
SP - 133
EP - 151
JO - European Journal of Health Economics
JF - European Journal of Health Economics
SN - 1618-7598
ER -