Gas price and obesity

With gasoline prices reaching new heights, then suddenly declining due to the political situation, drivers have had a few weeks of respite. Now, it seems the taxes will be reintroduced, and Japan's gasoline will be expensive again (just in time for the Golden Week vacation).

What caught my eye recently was a possible link between low gasoline cost and higher levels of obesity. What do you think? What kind of world do we want children - and grandchildren - to grow up in? More bicycle lanes, and fewer SUVs, perhaps?

A causal relationship between gasoline prices and obesity is possible through mechanisms of increased exercise and decreased eating in restaurants. I use a fixed effects model to explore whether this theory has empirical support, finding that an additional $1 in real gasoline prices would reduce obesity in the U.S. by 15% after five years, and that 13% of the rise in obesity between 1979 and 2004 can be attributed to falling real gas prices during this period.

Suggested by Professor Greg Mankiw.

BBC: Economists tackle US obesity

Illustration from an interesting article about a study that links intake of soft drinks and sodas with obesity, in addition to other factors such as genetics and exercise.

The Age: Scientists tag sodas as cigarettes of obesity