June, 2007 AEDE-RP-0067-07
The Role of Club Goods in Overcoming Childhood Obesity
Researchers: Ji Li (li.700@osu.edu) and Neal H. Hooker (hooker.27@osu.edu) Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics The Ohio State University
Recent decades have seen an increasing prevalence of childhood obesity (see Figure). The percentage of obese children increased over 200% between 1976 and 2000. The percentage of obese adolescents increased 121% during the same period (American Obesity Association, 2004). Similar trends have been seen in other countries. For example, in England the level of overweight and obesity Prevelence of Childhood Obesity at the 95th for children aged 7 to 11 was less than 10% in Percentile of Body Mass Index (BMI) the mid 1970s, but it exceeded 20% for girls and 15% for boys in 1998. The percentage of 20.0% obesity for children aged 2 to 6 increased from 15.0% 1.5% in 1989 to 12.6% in 1997 in Chinese urban areas. Childhood obesity is now a global 10.0% problem.
C hildren or A dolenscetns 5.0% 0.0% 1976-80 Children Adolesents 1988-94 Year 1999-00
P ercentage of O bese
BMI = 703 ×
weight (lb) height (in 2 )
Childhood obesity impacts all, it is linked to adult obesity and is accompanied by adverse health status. Overweight and obese children are increasingly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Obesity not only impacts individual physical and psychological health, but also exerts a large burden on social and economic development. Economic costs linked to obesity are high and likely will continue to rise. One estimate suggests the direct and indirect cost of obesity in the US was $139 billion in 2003. How Club Goods Play a Role Data used in this study are drawn from a national survey of children’s risk behaviors related to health status conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2003 and 2004. Our model examines the influence of “club goods” on childhood obesity. Economists...