Do we get fat because of air pollution? A new socio-economic approach

ABSTRACT

Air pollution and obesity are two of the main challenges that need to be addressed in developed countries. This paper analyses the relationship between obesity/overweight rates and outdoor (ambient) air quality in Spain. The results confirm, through logistic regressions, that the typical profile of an obese/overweight person is that of an older man. Air pollution does not have a clear negative effect on obesity/overweight for our sample selection (OR: 0.99; N = 23,089, men and women aged 15 and over). Similarly, there does not appear to be an urban pollution/obesity pattern. However, we find a detrimental effect for the group of elderly people, perhaps linked to a negative exposure duration effect (OR: 1.11; for those aged ≥55 years, N = 10,932). In our study we argue that public policies should address lifestyles and at the same time reduce specific air pollutants to enhance population health and wellbeing.

KEYWORDS:

• Obesity
• overweight
• air quality
• logistic regressions
• Spain

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• I10
• I18

Acknowledgments

Not applicable.

Authors’ contributions

All the authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript and read and approved the final manuscript.

Availability of data and material

All data can be obtained by contacting the corresponding author.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

mailto:[email protected]. Ethics approval is not required for this paper, since we did not collect data with personal information. The paper is the result of research carried out independently by the authors. No plagiarism and no conflict of interest can be associated with this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).