Article Excerpt
BY HOLMAN W. JENKINS, JR.
Most of the world has grown fatter since the 1970s, and economists naturally turn to economics to explain why. Food prices have fallen in relation to incomes. Jobs have become less strenuous. Instead of being paid to exercise, now people must pay to exercise.
"Calories have become relatively cheaper and exercise has become relatively more expensive," as one study put it.
Other studies show that obesity rates continued to grow even after these effects stabilized. Social feedbacks seem to be at work. As the median person became fatter, it became socially acceptable to be fat.
These explanations are more persuasive ...
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