Doctoral Dissertation Research in Economics: Heat Exposure and Dietary Choices

University Of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

Global obesity epidemic and secular increases in heat are two problems facing the world. Heat waves may have negative consequences on human health but it is not clear through which mechanisms increasing heat affect human health. This research project will use both economic theory and data t investigate the effects of long-term heat waves on obesity through its effects on dietary choices. The research project combines the economics and psychological and behavioral literature to link changing rising heatwaves and obesity through dietary choices. The project will link three large data sets over long periods of time for the study. This is one of the few studies that links obesity to heat waves with the major innovation coming from its focus on long-term heatwaves as opposed to short term increases in temperature. This research also explores the potential mechanisms through which heat waves affect obesity and other health problems. The results of this research project will provide inputs into policies to reduce the effects of climate change on health outcomes. The proposed research will synthesize three large datasets: the Nielsen HomeScan Consumer Panel, a nationally representative panel of U.S. household retail purchases of more than two million unique Universal Product Codes (UPCs) from 2004 to 2017; the NOAA Daily Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN-Daily) database, and the Nutritionix Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) dataset represented in the Nielsen panel. The researcher will construct a panel of household grocery purchases, the nutritional content of those purchases, and measures of contemporaneous heat exposure based on historical weather data from the household's geographic location. The proposed research will apply generalized additive models (GAMs), allowing for the common finding in prior literature of nonlinear effects of temperature on economic behavior and outcomes, to estimate the relationship between temperature and nutritional content of purchases. The researcher will then use these findings to elucidate the mechanisms by which heat influences dietary choices and identify regions or subpopulations for which targeted mitigating policies would be most valuable. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.