Fat city: the relationship between urban sprawl and obesity

Jean Eid, Henry Overman, Diego Puga and Matthew Turner

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: We study the relationship between urban sprawl and obesity. Using data that tracks individuals over time, we find no evidence that urban sprawl causes obesity. We show that previous findings of a positive relationship most likely reflect a failure to properly control for the fact the individuals who are more likely to be obese choose to live in more sprawling neighborhoods. Our results indicate that current interest in changing the built environment to counter the rise in obesity is misguided.

Keywords: Urban sprawl; obesity; selection effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 R14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2006-11
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/19793/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Fat city: The relationship between urban sprawl and obesity (2007)
Working Paper: Fat City: The Relationship Between Urban Sprawl and Obesity (2006)
Working Paper: Fat City: The Relationship Between Urban Sprawl and Obesity (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:19793

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