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  5. Is the Obesity Epidemic a Public Health Problem? A Review of Zoltan J. Acs and Alan Lyles's Obesity, Business and Public Policy

Journal of Economic Literature

ISSN 0022-0515 (Print) | ISSN 2328-8175 (Online)

Is the Obesity Epidemic a Public Health Problem? A Review of Zoltan J. Acs and Alan Lyles's Obesity, Business and Public Policy

  • Tomas J. Philipson
  • Richard A. Posner
Journal of Economic Literature
vol. 46, no. 4, December 2008
(pp. 974–82)
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Abstract

We review the recent but growing economic literature on the worldwide growth of obesity, relating the review to a recent anthology of articles—Obesity, Business and Public Policy. We discuss the competing explanations for the growth of obesity as well as the role of governments in attempting to limit it.

Citation

Philipson, Tomas J., and Richard A. Posner. 2008. "Is the Obesity Epidemic a Public Health Problem? A Review of Zoltan J. Acs and Alan Lyles's Obesity, Business and Public Policy." Journal of Economic Literature, 46 (4): 974–82. DOI: 10.1257/jel.46.4.974

JEL Classification

  • I12 Health Production
  • I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health