Main description:

There is an urgent need to better understand the causes and consequences of obesity, and to learn what works to prevent or reduce obesity. The purpose of this volume is to accurately and conveniently summarize the findings and insights of obesity-related research from the full range of social sciences, including anthropology, economics, government, psychology, and sociology. The first section of the book explains how each social science discipline models human
behavior (in particular, diet and physical activity), and summarizes the major strains of obesity research in that discipline. The second section provides important information for researchers, including a guide to publicly available social science data on obesity and an overview of the challenges to
causal inference in obesity research. The third part of the book synthesizes social science research on specific causes and correlates of obesity, such as food advertising, food prices, and peers. The fourth section summarizes social science research on the consequences of obesity, such as lower wages, job absenteeism, and discrimination. The fifth and final section reviews the social science literature on obesity treatment and prevention, such as food taxes, school-based interventions, and
medical treatments such as anti-obesity drugs and bariatric surgery.

This volume is designed to meet the growing need of researchers for accurate and well-written summaries of the large amount of recent studies on this topic. This handbook will be of great use for researchers in every social science discipline, both bringing them up to date on the relevant research in their own discipline and allowing them to quickly and easily understand the cutting-edge research being produced in other disciplines. It is a volume that every obesity researcher will want to
have on his or her shelf. These research summaries are valuable for researchers, public health officials, policymakers, nutritionists, and medical practitioners.

Contents:

1. Introduction: John Cawley of Cornell University ; 2. The Epidemiology of Obesity: Aviva Must and E. Whitney Evans of Tufts University ; 3. The Demography of Obesity: Christine L. Himes of Syracuse University ; 4. The Cliometrics of BMI and Obesity: Scott Alan Carson of University of Texas - Permian Basin ; 5. The Anthropology of Obesity: Amanda L. Thompson and Penny Gordon-Larsen of University of North Carolina ; 6. The Psychology of Obesity: Ashley Moskovich of Duke University, Jeff Hunger of California State University at Fullerton, and Traci Mann of University of Minnesota. ; 7. The Sociology of Obesity: Jeffrey Sobal of Cornell University ; 8. The Economics of Obesity: John Cawley of Cornell University ; 9. Behavioural Economics and Obesity: Julie S. Downs and George Lowenstein of Carnegie-Mellon University ; 10. Obesity Politics and Policy: Rogan Kersh of New York University and James Morone of Brown University ; 11. Fat Studies: Esther D. Rothblum of San Diego State University ; 12. Publicly-Available Data Useful for Social Science Research on Obesity: Inas Rashad Kelly of Queens College, City University of New York ; 13. The Complex Systems Science of Obesity: Diane T. Finegood of Simon Fraser University ; 14. Challenges for Causal Inference in Obesity Research: M. Christopher Auld of University of Calgary and Paul Grootendorst of University of Toronto ; 15. Race, Ethnicity and Obesity: Renee Walker and Ichiro Kawachi of Harvard University ; 16. Socioeconomic Status and Obesity: Lindsay McLaren of University of Calgary ; 17. The Nutrition Transition and Obesity: Barry M. Popkin of University of North Carolina - Chapel ; 18. Peer Effects and Obesity: Jason M. Fletcher of Yale University ; 19. Maternal Employment: Patricia M. Anderson of Dartmouth College ; 20. Depression and Obesity: Ellen Granberg of Clemson University ; 21. Food Marketing, Television and Video Games: Elizabeth A. Vandewater of Research Triangle Institute and Ellen A. Wartella of Northwestern University ; 22. Portion Size and the Obesity Epidemic: Tanja V.E. Kral of University of Pennsylvania and Barbara J. Rolls of Pennsylvania State University ; 23. Mindless Eating: Brian Wansink of Cornell University ; 24. Food Assistance and Obesity: Michele Ver Ploeg of U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service ; 25. Physical Activity and the Built Environment: James F. Sallis, Marc A. Adams, and Ding Ding of San Diego State University ; 26. Food Deserts: Dianna Smith and Steven Cummins of University of London ; 27. Food Prices, Income and Body Weight: Darius Lakdawalla of University of Southern California and Yuhui Zheng of the National Bureau of Economic Research ; 28. Policy and Childhood Obesity: John Cawley of Cornell University and Barrett Kirwan of University of Maryland ; 29. Obesity and Medical Costs: Eric Finkelstein and Hae Kyung Yang of Duke University / National University of Singapore ; 30. Obesity and Mortality: Neil K. Mehta of University of Michigan and Virginia W. Chang of University of Pennsylvania ; 31. Schooling and Human Capital: Khoa Truong of Clemson University and Roland Sturm of RAND ; 32. Labor Market Consequences: Employment, Wages, Disability, and Absenteeism: Susan L. Averett of Lafayette College ; 33. Bias, Stigma and Discrimination: Rebecca M. Puhl of Yale University ; 34. Medical and Social Scientific Debates over Body Weight: Abigail C. Saguy of University of California - Los Angeles and Paul Campos of University of Colorado ; 35. The Imperative of Changing Public Policy To Address Obesity: Christina A. Roberto and Kelly D. Brownell of Yale ; 36. Economic Perspectives on Obesity Policy: Tomas J. Philipson and Richard A. Posner of University of Chicago ; 37. Lessons for Obesity Policy from the Tobacco Wars: Frank J. Chaloupka of University of Illinois at Chicago. ; 38. Food Taxes and Subsidies: Evidence and Policies for Obesity Prevention: Lisa M. Powell and Jamie F. Chriqui of University of Illinois at Chicago ; 39. School-Based Interventions: Tamara Brown of Liverpool University. ; 40. Workplace Obesity Prevention Programs: Ron Z. Goetzel of Emory University, Niranjana Kowlessar of Thomson Reuters, Enid Chung Roemer of Emory University, Xiaofei Pei, of Thomson Reuters, Maryam Tabrizi of Thomson Reuters, Rivka C. Liss-Levinson of Emory University, Daniel Samoly of Emory University and Jessica Waddell of Thomson Reuters. ; 41. Community Interventions: Christina D. Economos and Sarah A. Sliwa of Tufts University ; 42. Regulation of Food Advertising: Pauline M. Ippolito of Federal Trade Commission ; 43. Unintended Consequences of Obesity Prevention Messages: Sahara Byrne and Jeff Niederdeppe of Cornell University ; 44. Behavioral Treatment of Obesity: LaShanda Jones-Corneille, Rebecca M. Stack and Thomas Wadden of University of Pennsylvania ; 45. Anti-Obesity Drugs and Bariatric Surgery: William Encinosa of Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Dongyi Tony Du of the Food and Drug Administration, and Didem Bernard of Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality ; 46. Correlates of Successful Maintenance of Weight Loss: Victoria Catenacci, Paul MacLean, Lorri Ogden, Sarit Polsky, Holly Wyatt, and James Hill of University of Colorado ; 47. Cost Effectiveness of Anti-Obesity Interventions: Social Science Insights Into Treatment, Prevention, and Policymaking: Larissa Roux of University of British Columbia