UVM Theses and Dissertations
Format:
Print
Author:
Goldstein, Amanda
Dept./Program:
Community Development and Applied Economics
Year:
2009
Degree:
MS
Abstract:
Obesity continues to be a public health concern in the United States and throughout the world. From 2000 to 2005 alone, the nationwide prevalence of obesity increased by 24 percent, with the largest increases occurring within heaviest BMI groups. Currently, 66 percent of U.S. adults are overweight and 34 percent are obese. The obesity trend is alarming because of the numerous chronic diseases associated with it. The list of obesity-related diseases is long and includes diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, several types of cancer, gallbladder disease, high blood cholesterol level, high blood pressure, and osteoarthritis. Almost ten percent of all health care expenditures in the United States are attributable to being overweight. In addition, there are economic costs related to overweight due to the loss of human capital in the workforce as national estimates have put lost work due to obesity at more than 39 million days.
Put simply, an individual's weight is equal to the amount of energy consumed minus energy expended. Therefore, when examining obesity, it is necessary to look at what people are consuming, how much they are consuming, and what activities they are engaging in that either burn or do not burn calories. Specifically, sweetened beverages are an integral aspect of total beverage consumption. Carbonated soft drinks are the single biggest source of calories in the American diet; teenagers get 13 percent of their calories from carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks. However, a direct causal pathway has not been shown, nor is it clear exactly how sweetened beverages impact obesity. It is most likely that the impact of beverages on obesity is multi-dimensional and a combination of various demographics, and lifestyle and behavioral characteristics. Beverage patterns are also important as well as the relative amounts of different beverages. It is necessary to look at ratios of all beverages to each other rather than isolating a single beverage as present literature tends to do, i.e. milk, soda.
By merging the Current Population Survey, the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), the Eating and Health Module of the ATUS, and the Consumer Expenditure Survey, we can begin to conceive of weight as the production of health and frame the obesity epidemic in a more holistic manner. That analysis increases our understanding of how trade-offs in time use and purchased inputs affect an individual's production ofa healthy weight.
It is also a necessary approach as the causes and effects of obesity are multidimensional and pervasive across all disciplines. As such, it is impossible to combat the obesity epidemic without a transdisciplinary, holistic approach that is collaborative in nature. The rest of this work explains that mandate in detail but also begins to explore some of the methodological issues inherent to transdisciplinary work.
Put simply, an individual's weight is equal to the amount of energy consumed minus energy expended. Therefore, when examining obesity, it is necessary to look at what people are consuming, how much they are consuming, and what activities they are engaging in that either burn or do not burn calories. Specifically, sweetened beverages are an integral aspect of total beverage consumption. Carbonated soft drinks are the single biggest source of calories in the American diet; teenagers get 13 percent of their calories from carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks. However, a direct causal pathway has not been shown, nor is it clear exactly how sweetened beverages impact obesity. It is most likely that the impact of beverages on obesity is multi-dimensional and a combination of various demographics, and lifestyle and behavioral characteristics. Beverage patterns are also important as well as the relative amounts of different beverages. It is necessary to look at ratios of all beverages to each other rather than isolating a single beverage as present literature tends to do, i.e. milk, soda.
By merging the Current Population Survey, the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), the Eating and Health Module of the ATUS, and the Consumer Expenditure Survey, we can begin to conceive of weight as the production of health and frame the obesity epidemic in a more holistic manner. That analysis increases our understanding of how trade-offs in time use and purchased inputs affect an individual's production ofa healthy weight.
It is also a necessary approach as the causes and effects of obesity are multidimensional and pervasive across all disciplines. As such, it is impossible to combat the obesity epidemic without a transdisciplinary, holistic approach that is collaborative in nature. The rest of this work explains that mandate in detail but also begins to explore some of the methodological issues inherent to transdisciplinary work.