...Economics and Human Biology 11 (2013) 134–147 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Economics and Human Biology journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ehb Fast food prices, obesity, and the minimum wage Chad Cotti a, Nathan Tefft b,* a b Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI 54901, USA Department of Economics, Bates College, Lewiston, ME 04240, USA A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article history: Received 1 August 2011 Received in revised form 22 March 2012 Accepted 9 April 2012 Available online 15 April 2012 Recent proposals argue that a fast food tax may be an effective policy lever for reducing population weight. Although there is growing evidence for a negative association between fast food prices and weight among adolescents, less is known about adults. That any measured relationship to date is causal is unclear because there has been no attempt to separate variation in prices on the demand side from that on the supply side. We argue that the minimum wage is an exogenous source of variation in fast food prices, conditional on income and employment. In two-stage least-squares analyses, we find little evidence that fast food price changes affect adult BMI or obesity prevalence. Results are robust to including controls for area and time fixed effects, area time trends, demographic characteristics, substitute prices, numbers of establishments and employment in related industries...
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...food and start to eat healthy fresh organic food. The food that we eat on a daily basis will affect our long-term health specially the students; also, the food industry does not care about people’s health instead it cares only for money. In this paper, I will show that food industry is destroying people’s health on one hand by putting an enormous amount of sugar and on the other hand making low-fat products. What are the people really eating? Once in my human biology class Dr. Walter Hoeh said: “The food that you eat every day will not kill you now but it will kill you after twenty to thirty years from eating the food, however, eventually you will die from the food.” He explained how food affect us, when we heard the explanation we were shocked because we buy food without reading the ingredient. When you eat processed food it tastes delicious and you crave for more, but you are only eating sugar and harmful fats and that type of sugar and fats are harming the human body. According to Ms. Epel in the skinny of obesity episode 2, she said:” I'm suspicious a anything that says low-fat diet because you know that that means that they had to compensate with a lot these added sugars there's more than five ingredients its probably a processed food and there's probably not much real food in their it is almost impossible to buy those...
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...Exercise and Obesity Obesity is a serious medical condition that affects adults and children. In United States there is two-thirds of adults that is obese and about a quarter of 2-5 years old and one-third of school age children that is obese. There is many health problems that come from being obese. Those health problems are diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease and even have a stroke. There are ways to prevent obesity by exercising, eating healthy and preventing health problems. Physical exercise is important for adult and children who are obese. One reason why physical exercise will help is so that you can control weight gain. Another reason is to burn fat so it will not cause health issues. Some people feel that they have to exercise for hours and hours of the day but it’s not true. If you exercise for 30 minutes a day it can benefit you. Ways to exercise is by walking, going up and down stairs and even stretch to help strengthen muscles and bones. It’s very important that children who are obese exercise daily because it is a high risk that they will be obese for their entire live. Eating healthy and cutting down on portion will also help prevent obesity. Obesity effects children on many different levels to where emotional stress takes place. Some children may get teased on in school which causes children to eat more and do less physical activities. For adults they also experience emotional stress because of problems they may be going through such as...
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...Biology of Health and Disease | Childhood Obesity | Healthy Choices | | The book entitled Your Child by David Pruitt, MD. focuses on the increase of childhood obesity in the United States. The book explains that between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese. Obesity is among the easiest medical conditions to recognize but most difficult to treat. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year. The annual cost to society for obesity is estimated at nearly $100 billion. Overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults unless they adopt and maintain healthier patterns of eating and exercise (David Pruitt, 1998). The causes and risk factors associated with childhood obesity are discussed in an article by the NIH (National Institutes of Health) entitled Healthy Weight, Healthy Child, which cites poor eating habits, overeating, binge eating, and lack of exercise as the leading cause of unhealthy weights among children and adolescents. There are many societal factors that contribute to childhood obesity. Poor eating habits can be learned, but are also the result of poor socioeconomic factors. Fast foods are not only easier, but cheaper. The cost of a cheesburger and french fries is marginal and can be purchased in a matter of miutes, compaired to the time and cost of a sit-down meal prepared at home...
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...It is critical to know the neuropsychological and psychobiological backgrounds of sleep in order to successfully understand the process. Sleep factors control brain waves, wakefulness or drowsiness, innate clocks, and health. These factors are in affect from the moment our brain chemicals agree it is time to sleep, to the moment our innate alarm clocks choose it is time to wake up. Biological principles are essential to understand when studying this daily event. Sleep is defined by brain waves and physiological signals. Changes in the brain’s electrical activity signals different stages. The first stage has small and irregular brain waves. In the second stage, “the brain emits occasional short bursts or rapid, high-peaking waves called sleep spindles” (Tavris, Wade, & Garry, 2014, p.160). In the third stage, the brain irregularly emits delta waves that are slow with high peaks. The final stage consists of many delta waves. During the sleeping cycle, there are periods of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. When the REM period starts, the brain’s electrical activity patterns resemble an awake brain. This period is distinguished by eye movement, vivid dreams, and almost complete body paralysis. The ability to fall asleep or stay awake depends on brain chemicals. Neurotransmitters are chemicals in the brain that are responsible for controlling wakefulness or drowsiness. Some brain neurons promote staying awake and other brain neurons promote falling sleep. Areas of the brain that interact...
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...The Negative Effects of Processed Foods Food is one of life’s main essentials to sustain viability. The ongoing growth, maintenance and repair of the body depends deeply on the energy and nutrients supplied to the body through foods. The nutrients that food delivers to the human body is an amazingly, dynamic process that keeps people alive and well. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over 25 million people in America have diabetes; 215,000 of those are children and over 69 percent of all Americans are overweight and obese. This includes childhood obesity, which has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. There is also the deadly threat of food intolerances, which according to the CDC, has increased approximately 50 percent between 1997 and 2011. That means 1 in every 13 children under the age of 18 have a food allergy, according to statistics. These diseases cause many complications and are responsible for a reduced quality of life. These startling statistics reveal that Americans, especially children, are not getting the proper nutrients their body needs. America has taken technological innovations in food production to the next level and has an abundant food supply. So why are so many Americans sick with food related diseases? Taking a closer look at America’s diet holds the answer. A typical American diet consists of 70 percent processed foods. This includes packaged foods, fast foods, and foods that could...
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...Representation 2 May 2012 Controversies of the Fast Food Epidemic In today’s society, when it comes to food, consumers want the best of both worlds. People desire instant gratification meals such as fast food, but also want companies to be good citizens. Statistics show that 85% of Americans think that consumers should get more than just the product for their money; their support should go to companies that don’t harm the environment or hurt people (Clark, “Fast Food Shake Up”). Is it possible for fast food companies to provide quick, satisfactory food without the health risks involved? Do fast food companies really have any correlation to obesity? Are we taking it too far by blaming fast food companies? When is it individual responsibility, and when is it appropriate to place blame? Regardless of the actual cause of obesity, the major health epidemic in America needs to be addressed (Clark). Before addressing the fast food products, it is important to start with the basics. Does fat in foods actually make you fat? This is a very simple, yet extremely controversial question. Back in the 1860s, an Englishman named William Bantig was so overweight that he didn’t dare doing simples tasks such as walking face-first down a flight of stairs because he was afraid of falling over. His doctor advised that he start a diet that was high in meat and alcohol, and low in fruits. Within months of this new diet, Bantig lost over 35 pounds. Inspired, he wrote a pamphlet about his diet...
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...Dr. Randolph Nesse’s presentation was not focused on evolutionary biology, but rather on evolutionary medicine, which is the field at intersection of medicine and evolution, using the basic science of evolutionary biology to find ways to prevent and treat disease. Thus, evolutionary medicine does not only focus on why some people get sick, but also asks why natural selection has left all of us with traits that make us vulnerable to disease. Most disese persist because our bodies are not well fitted for our continuously chaging environment and pathogens evolve faster than we do. In addition to that, natural selections has its own limitations (not all deleterous traits can be eliminated and natural selection is a mechanism of “editing”, not a mechanism of “creating”). Another important aspect is that our vulnerability is the result of the tradeoffs our body had to make (maximizing reproduction even when that harms health; running efficiency in women, and birth canal size; speech and its use of a descended larynx, and increased risk of chocking)....
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...Shan Parsan Law 4906 I believe womanhood should be determined solely on the basis of biology. Consider our current world; we have male, female, and now transgender. We cannot consider a transgender male a female because it goes against the natural order of biology. Think about any other species. We have sexual and asexual species. What separates these species is biology. Sexual species rely on a mate, but asexual species can rely on themselves to reproduce. The idea however is whether sexual or asexual the species can reproduce. Sexual According to the U.S. Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2005 it is stated, “The term `woman’ means a female human being who is capable of becoming pregnant, whether or not she has reached the age of majority.”(Lauren) One may argue the fact that there are females and males who are born in-fertile. The fact however remains that amongst that group they were biologically born with the reproductive traits of either a male or female. In a press release by Stanford University on 03/10/1995 it was stated that DNA research has identified the general location of at least “one gay” gene. The gene was said to be inherited from the mother. However, the research does not indicate any biological reason for a person to want to be the opposite sex, and to my point suggests the want to be the opposite sex is purely psychological. Consider trans-genders who go through operations to have male/female sex changes; yes they have the sexual functions...
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...My mother always said that being overweight is a blessing because only the rich can afford to be fat. Having lived most of her life in a rural countryside in China, my mother never thought there could be other reasons why people are overweight. America is the richest country in the world, and obesity has become a major health concern. A person is considered obese if their body weight is 20% over the normal weight (1). With obesity on the rise, the health problems that come along with being overweight are major concern in most American households. Being obese carries with it the predisposition to get diabetes, heart disease, and many other serious illnesses (2). Our bodies have biological mechanisms that tell us when we are hungry and when we are full. Do obese people have a defect in their biological mechanisms that control their weight or are other issues, such as lifestyle and psychology, affecting their weight? From a biological prospective, our body must have a way of telling us when we need to eat to ensure survival. People are usually aware of their hunger when their stomach starts making noises. These noises are stomach contractions, but this sign is not the most important indication of hunger (2). The feeling of hunger comes from the hypothalamus, which is responsible for maintaining our body weight by telling us to consume more or less calories in order to have a properly functioning body (4). The mechanism starts when blood glucose levels are low. Then the liver, which...
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...global increase in obesity? (Preparatory Project, Final Draft) Altynbekov Nurdaulet ID: 201374364 Tutor: Whilliedell Palapas Date of submission: 5 December 2014 Word count: 1,016 University Preparatory Certificate, CPS, NU Astana Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines obesity as a state known as accumulation and storage of redundant fat inside the body. An imbalanced eating of food or calories with respect to the number of energy spent is a primary reason for obesity. Moreover, there are other causes of obesity such as direct food marketing and soft drinks in America and in Canada. In India, where obesity ranked the second, people who are obese are three times higher in urban areas than in rural. For instance, in Punjab, obesity rate for men is 30.3% , while for women is 37.5; however, in Gujarat, obesity rate for men is 15.4% , whereas for women is 17.7% ( National Family Health Survey 2007 quoted in Kalra and Unnikrishnan 2012). Chapman (2008 quoted in Victor 2010, 143) stated that in England 29% of older adults are obese; in addition, 43% of Aussie were overweight, and 24 were obese. This essay will examine three reasons of increasing obesity that result from lifestyle...
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...English 1101 8 October 2015 Food Health Research: An Annotated Bibliography Hill, Donna, S. "Health Benefits Of A Plant-Based Diet." Maryland Nurse 16.1 (2014): 6-7. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 5 Oct. 2015. Donna S. Hill’s article, “Health Benefits Of A Plant-Based Diet (2014),” explains that following a plant-based diet prevents health risks such as cholesterol and diabetes versus an animal-based diet. Hill uses studies of Chinese plant-based diets and American animal-based diets by comparing and contrasting the cause and effect of each dietary preference to back up her claim. Hill’s purpose is to specify the cause and effect of each dietary preference in order to impact the awareness of the reader into considering the health risks that could be associated with his or her own personal dietary preference. Given the medical terminology and statistical analysis in the article, Hill is writing to an audience in the medical field. Messina, Virginia. "Nutritional And Health Benefits Of Dried Beans." American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition 100 (2014): 437S-442S. Environment Complete. Web. 7 Oct. 2015. Virginia Messina’s article, “Nutritional And Health Benefits Of Dried Beans (2014),” asserts that the underutilized consumption of dried beans provide health benefits and reduce health related risks while playing an important role in many diets throughout the world. Messina uses quantitative and qualitative data collection methods to support her claim of pointing...
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...Yuren Xia Monday, September 29, 2014 Biology 101, section 11 Dr. Hannes A Reply Letter for Dear Aunt Dear Aunt. How have you been? I am now taking biology 101, hopefully, I can clear out some of your confusions regarding to high fructose corn syrup vs. table sugar with my so called highly scientifically literate brain. The high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) was introduced in 1957 by scientists in a short report. According to the article Sweet Confusion (Beil 2014), two chemists Richard Marshall and Earl Kooi found out a way to rearrange the components of glucose from corn, and discovered a fluid like sweeter sweetener. Because HFCS has better solubility, high applicability, and most importantly high...
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...day? Well, if you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re not alone. It has been excessively studied that adolescents generally have a harder time getting ready for the day in the morning compared to adults; who have lower risk of stress and a higher chance of information retainment. Teenagers go to school from eight in the morning to about three thirty in the afternoon and are expected to do homework from that school day, go to work, practice for sports, and hang out with friends and family and do chores, but yet more times than not, teens are not able to do any extracurricular activities because of how exhausted they are. Studies have shown, teens who begin school at an earlier time have an increased risk of depression, anxiety, obesity, and illness, compared to students who start school at a later time. Starting at puberty, adolescents internal...
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...Carbohydrates are Killing Us Softly Thomas J. Engstrom Western Governors University WGU Student ID# 000529592 Carbohydrates are Killing Us Softly The nutritional dietary consumption of carbohydrates is between 55-75% for the vast majority of the global population as their main source of food intake and energy. And the general populous continues to be misinformed by government agencies regarding what a normal, healthy diet, should be, as well as what a balanced diet looks like. Eating a low-carb high-fat, or ketogenic, diet of high fat, adequate protein and low carbohydrates can provide many health benefits as compared to the alternative of an unhealthy diet. Research suggests that a ketogenic diet builds a healthier body than other diets because it will lead to weight loss, improved blood pressure, and reduce appetites. The ketogenic diet is the foundation for a healthy life. As noted by Dr. Eenfeldt (2014), The ketogenic diet has been referred to by different names, such as: the keto diet, low carb diet, low carb high fat (LCHF), and to some degree the Adkins Diet. The ketogenic diet is a well known diet for being associated with consuming a low amount of carbohydrates, a moderate amount of protein and high amount of fat, where the body produces ketones in the liver to be used as energy (Taubes, 2008). With a diet high in carbohydrates your body will produce glucose and insulin. Glucose is the easiest molecule for your body to convert and use as energy, so it will...
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