The effect of obesity on intergenerational income mobility

Abstract

Obesity has increasingly become a national health concern of epidemic proportions. Recent Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data indicate that the national age-adjusted obesity prevalence reached an all-time high of 34 % in 2008, with more than 16 % of children and adolescents obese (Flegal et al. 2010). Overall, 68 % of U.S. adults are overweight or obese. Overweight and obese individuals are at increased risk of a range of medical conditions, including coronary heart disease, type-2 diabetes, cancer, sleep apnea, and reproductive dysfunction. Medical costs associated with overweight and obesity were $92.6 billion in 1998 and accounted for at least 9 % of all national health care spending (Finkelstein et al. 2003). More than 10 years later, the costs have surely increased with obesity’s increased prevalence. In addition to health care spending, obesity has many socioeconomic costs, with vast research detailing correlates between socioeconomic status (SES) and weight.