Adult obesity and the price and availability of food in the United States

The public health risks associated with obesity are numerous and include premature death, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, among others. Economic contextual factors such as food prices, food store availability, and restaurant availability are increasingly being posited and explored as possible explanations for increased obesity rates in the US. Previous studies have examined the relationship between food prices, availability, and adult weight using cross-sectional data, and most have examined either food prices or availability but have not controlled for both. The empirical results from this study suggest that food price and availability measures play a limited role in the weight outcomes of US adult men and women, in general, although there are some significant effects for certain subpopulations. Fast-food prices are not found to be associated with male or female adult weight in any of the models.