Does obesity create a relative sense of excess poverty?

BackgroundThis study investigates the potential relationship between obesity and self-ranking of poverty, as a proxy for self-awareness and happiness. To the best of our knowledge, this issue has not been previously explored based on self-ranking of poverty when income is controlled.MethodOrdered Pr...

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Main Authors: Yuval Arbel, Yifat Arbel, Amichai Kerner, Miryam Kerner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-11-01
Series:Frontiers in Public Health
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1480365/full
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author Yuval Arbel
Yifat Arbel
Amichai Kerner
Miryam Kerner
Miryam Kerner
author_facet Yuval Arbel
Yifat Arbel
Amichai Kerner
Miryam Kerner
Miryam Kerner
author_sort Yuval Arbel
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundThis study investigates the potential relationship between obesity and self-ranking of poverty, as a proxy for self-awareness and happiness. To the best of our knowledge, this issue has not been previously explored based on self-ranking of poverty when income is controlled.MethodOrdered Probit Regressions. We propose a new measure for the influence of western social values and norms associated with discrimination against obese women.ResultsBased on a follow-up survey after two years, findings demonstrate a drop in the projected probability of self-ranking as “not poor” with the BMI from 0.73 to 0.37 (females) – 0.48 (males) when the level of income is controlled. Similar outcomes are obtained when the independent variables are lagged and thus avoid endogeneity concerns. Finally, additional outcomes support the conclusion that the lagged BMI Granger-cause self-ranking of poverty for women, but not for men. Findings support the awareness of more obese women to lower prospects of finding a job.ConclusionSince according to twin studies, approximately 80% of obesity emanates from genetic factors, research findings stress the need to educate the public against prejudices on the grounds of obesity. In particular, our study seeks to evoke awareness among potential employers, which, in turn, might motivate avoidance of, or at least reduction in, an implicit wage penalty against obese women.
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spelling doaj-art-8edbf94c1f5f47d488f82f4b37de540c2024-11-27T15:40:45ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652024-11-011210.3389/fpubh.2024.14803651480365Does obesity create a relative sense of excess poverty?Yuval Arbel0Yifat Arbel1Amichai Kerner2Miryam Kerner3Miryam Kerner4Sir Harry Solomon School of Economics and Management, Western Galilee College, Acre, IsraelDepartment of Mathematics, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, IsraelFaculty of Social Sciences, Banking and Finance Program, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, IsraelThe Ruth and Bruce Rapoport Faculty of Medicine, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, IsraelDepartment of Dermatology, Emek Medical Center, Afula, IsraelBackgroundThis study investigates the potential relationship between obesity and self-ranking of poverty, as a proxy for self-awareness and happiness. To the best of our knowledge, this issue has not been previously explored based on self-ranking of poverty when income is controlled.MethodOrdered Probit Regressions. We propose a new measure for the influence of western social values and norms associated with discrimination against obese women.ResultsBased on a follow-up survey after two years, findings demonstrate a drop in the projected probability of self-ranking as “not poor” with the BMI from 0.73 to 0.37 (females) – 0.48 (males) when the level of income is controlled. Similar outcomes are obtained when the independent variables are lagged and thus avoid endogeneity concerns. Finally, additional outcomes support the conclusion that the lagged BMI Granger-cause self-ranking of poverty for women, but not for men. Findings support the awareness of more obese women to lower prospects of finding a job.ConclusionSince according to twin studies, approximately 80% of obesity emanates from genetic factors, research findings stress the need to educate the public against prejudices on the grounds of obesity. In particular, our study seeks to evoke awareness among potential employers, which, in turn, might motivate avoidance of, or at least reduction in, an implicit wage penalty against obese women.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1480365/fullobesitypovertypublic healtha follow-up surveylagged variables
spellingShingle Yuval Arbel
Yifat Arbel
Amichai Kerner
Miryam Kerner
Miryam Kerner
Does obesity create a relative sense of excess poverty?
Frontiers in Public Health
obesity
poverty
public health
a follow-up survey
lagged variables
title Does obesity create a relative sense of excess poverty?
title_full Does obesity create a relative sense of excess poverty?
title_fullStr Does obesity create a relative sense of excess poverty?
title_full_unstemmed Does obesity create a relative sense of excess poverty?
title_short Does obesity create a relative sense of excess poverty?
title_sort does obesity create a relative sense of excess poverty
topic obesity
poverty
public health
a follow-up survey
lagged variables
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1480365/full
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