Session: What Influences Obesity?
Room: Upson B17
Time: Mon 16:45-18:15

Presenter: Bisakha Sen (University of Alabama at Birmingham. Healthcare Organization & Policy)

Discussant: Laura Argys (University of Colorado, Denver)

Abstract

Obesity is epidemic in the U.S, and it is imperative to identify policy tools that promote obesity-preventing behaviors. One such behavior is physical activity. Much of the recommendations regarding how to increase physical activity have focused on the local built environment. However, one recent paper in economics suggests that higher gasoline prices may be a tool for reducing obesity-risk and promoting physical activity.
This study expands and builds upon that research by exploring the relationship between gasoline prices and physical activity among adults and youth, and how that relationship varies across race-ethnicity and socio-economic status (SES).
The primary aims of this study are to explore if higher gasoline prices are associated with changes in ‘active’ physical activities and ‘sedentary’ physical activities; if this associations vary by race-ethnicity and by SES; and if the associations are moderated by other changes in macro-economic conditions such as unemployment levels.
The underlying conceptual model is based on economic theory of consumer behavior, which suggests that higher gasoline prices will lead people to substitute activities that require gasoline (such as driving a car) for activities that do not (like walking or bicycling). Also, the ‘income effect’of higher gasoline prices may also lead to some lifestyle changes, though it is difficult to predict a priori whether these changes will lead to net increases in physical activity. Hence, the question of how gasoline prices affect physical activity must ultimately be empirically determined.
This project uses several waves from two large, nationally representative datasets that inform on physical activity among youth and adults. These are the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS). The period studied is 2003-2008, a period over which gasoline prices changed dramatically. These changes allow for a ‘natural experiment’, to evaluate the behaviors of respondents in the era of high gasoline prices with that of their counterparts when gasoline prices were lower. The range of behaviors of interest include time spent on different ‘active’ physical activities ranging from exercise to moderately strenuous housework/yard-work, time spent on sedentary activities like TV-watching or playing on computers, and participation in physical activity classes as well as team sports by youth. Multivariate regression equations with time and state fixed effects and controls for other respondent characteristics are used. Separate models are to be estimated for racial minorities and low SES families. The effects of unemployment rates as well as the interaction of unemployment rates and gasoline prices on physical activity are considered. Preliminary results suggest that higher gasoline prices are, indeed, associated with increases in physical activity.
The ultimate purpose is to determine whether increasing gasoline taxes (which will increase gasoline prices) can be a viable policy tool to alter behaviors pertaining to obesity and help reduce the obesity crisis. Higher gasoline taxes have sometimes been considered as a tool for reducing US gasoline consumption from a climate change perspective. This research will introduce a new and timely dimension into the policy debates regarding the costs versus benefits to society of higher gasoline taxes.

Key Terms

Gasoline prices, physical activity, youth, obesity, socio-economic status

Authors:

Bisakha Sen (University of Alabama at Birmingham. Healthcare Organization & Policy) and Sheikilya Thomas (University of Alabama at Birmingham. Preventive Medicine)