Obesity and Food Away from Home : What Drives the Socioeconomic Gradient in Excess Body Weight ?
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 n...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/883261574446634880/Obesity-and-Food-away-from-Home-What-Drives-the-Socioeconomic-Gradient-in-Excess-Body-Weight http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32807 |
| Summary: | 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. |
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