THE PRICE OF ONE SWEET CALORIE
We propose a new measure for food prices to further examine the impact of changes in food prices and real income on individuals’ eating decisions and weight. We calculate price per calorie for food consumed away from home and food consumed at home as the dollar amount spent by households on each...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics
2015-10-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.foodandagriculturejournal.com/vol3.no4.pp1.pdf |
| Summary: | We propose a new measure for food prices to further examine the impact of changes in
food prices and real income on individuals’ eating decisions and weight. We calculate price
per calorie for food consumed away from home and food consumed at home as the dollar
amount spent by households on each food category divided by the number of calories
consumed. We use our newly constructed time series for price per calorie as an input into a
neoclassical model of eating decisions and weight. Our goal is to propose a quantitative
explanation for the increase in calories consumed away from home as well as changes in
weight for men and women 1971 and 2006. We find that prices determine the allocation of
calories across food types, while income determines the total number of calories consumed
and thus individuals' weight. Based on our results, we share the view that taxes on food will
impact what people eat but will have limited effect on reducing the population body-mass
index or the obesity prevalence |
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| ISSN: | 2147-8988 2147-8988 |