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Abstract
The United Kingdom (UK) has one of the highest obesity levels in the world (Mazzocchi et
al., 2009). As indicated by the National Health Service (2010), 25% of adults and 17% of
children are obese in the UK. This last statistic represents an increase of four points in
comparison to 1995. The Government Office for Science (2010) estimated that by 2050, half
of the UK population would be obese, with a consequent direct annual cost of £10 billion and
an indirect annual cost of £50 billion at today’s prices.
This research aims to contribute to the debate on how health-related information impacts
household food expenditure and whether this impact varies across income groups and
household composition. This study specifically measures the impact of child obesity news on
household food expenditure in the UK. To this end, the study calculated a set of elasticities
for different income groups (high vs. low) and family composition (families with and without
children). This set of elasticities gives us a measure of responsiveness, to change in terms of
price, income and news.
The results indicate that child obesity news causes different impacts on households according
to their income level and household composition. Low-income households without children
are not significantly impacted by child obesity news. Low-income households with children
change their food expenditure composition to a healthier diet without changing the overall
food expenditure. High-income households without children decrease their overall food
expenditure, mainly changing red meat for dairy products. Finally, high-income households
with children increase their overall food expenditure and move on to a healthier diet.
Therefore, in three out of four household cases, child obesity news causes a different and
positive impact on diet.
Low-income households with children in default-mode spend the smallest proportion of their
income on fruit and vegetables; which is even less than low-income households without
children. More importantly, low-income households with children influence the nutritional
habits of their children. This research shows that low-income households with children
respond to child obesity news and move on to a healthier diet without causing undesirable
income redistribution.