Journal Article

Challenging The Spirit Level: is there really a relationship between inequality and obesity?

Publication details

Publication date
Published in
Economic Affairs
Volume
33
Pages
pp. 232–245
Publisher
Blackwell
ISSN
2650665

Summary

This paper examines the proposition, set out in The Spirit Level, that inequality is associated with high levels of obesity. It reviews existing literature and uses British Household Panel Survey data to study how district‐level and regional‐level income inequality is related to obesity in the UK. This is likely to be the first study of its type that uses individual‐level data that is representative of the UKpopulation. We find little evidence to support policies that reduce income inequality with the aim of reducing obesity levels in the UK.

Notes

Online in Albert Sloman Library, except current 12 months

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