Information, Prices, and Healthy Lifestyle Choices of Adults: Discussion
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It was a great pleasure to read the papers in this issue of the Journal by Y. Chen and W. E. Huffman (“An Economic Analysis of the Impact of Food Prices and Other Factors on Adult Lifestyles: Choices of Physical Activity and Healthy Weight”) (henceforth CH) and L. Powell and E. Han (“Adult Obesity and the Price and Availability of Food in the United States”) (henceforth PH). CH uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort (NLSY79) and the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association (ACCRA) cost-of-living indices to examine how lifestyle factors and prices of food and health care affect three behavioral variables (i.e., obesity, decision to participate in vigorous physical activity, and decision to participate in moderate physical activity) and how they relate to each other. In addition to using a trivariate probit, CH differs from other studies because it incorporates the price of health care, early health status, and a preference indicator of reading food labels. PH uses the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and ACCRA price indices to investigate how food prices and availability affect adult obesity in the United States. Unlike previous studies, PH uses a fixed effects model (FEM) and has controlled for both food prices and availability. The authors also provide stratified analyses by poverty and family status, which are very informational.
JOUR
Chen, Zhuo
2011
American Journal of Agricultural Economics
93
2
387-388
0002-9092
10.1093/ajae/aaq101
1443