Salmasi Luca, Celidoni Martina
University of Perugia Via Pascoli 20, 06123 Perugia, Italy.
University of Perugia Via Pascoli 20, 06123 Perugia, Italy; University of Padova Via Del Santo 33, 35123 Padova, Italy.
Econ Hum Biol. 2017 Aug;26:70-85. doi: 10.1016/j.ehb.2017.02.005. Epub 2017 Mar 9.
This paper investigates the effect of income- and wealth-based poverty on the probability of being obese for the elderly in Europe by analysing data drawn from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). We use early-life economic conditions and regional circumstances as instruments for poverty later in life to account for endogeneity issues. After controlling for a large set of covariates at the individual, household, regional and country level, the results show that poverty significantly increases the probability of being obese and the Body Mass Index (BMI), for men and women. The results show that, accounting for endogeneity with a bivariate probit model, poor individuals are from 10 to 20% points more likely to be obese than non-poor individuals. The effect on BMI ranges from 0.295 points (2.39 kg) to 0.395 points (2.75 kg). These results are robust to a series of checks and suggest that anti-poverty interventions might have positive side effects in terms of reducing food-related health inequalities.
本文通过分析来自健康、老龄化和退休调查（SHARE）以及英国老龄化纵向研究（ELSA）的数据，研究了基于收入和财富的贫困对欧洲老年人肥胖概率的影响。我们将早年的经济状况和地区情况用作晚年贫困的工具变量，以解决内生性问题。在控制了个体、家庭、地区和国家层面的大量协变量后，结果表明，贫困显著增加了男性和女性肥胖的概率以及体重指数（BMI）。结果显示，采用双变量probit模型考虑内生性后，贫困个体比非贫困个体肥胖的可能性高10至20个百分点。对BMI的影响范围为0.295个点（2.39千克）至0.395个点（2.75千克）。这些结果在一系列检验中都很稳健，表明扶贫干预措施在减少与食物相关的健康不平等方面可能会产生积极的副作用。
