Do government food price policies affect the prevalence of obesity? Empirical evidence from Egypt

Obesity has become one of the most serious but neglected global public health problems especially in developing countries. I examine the impact of the Egyptian food subsidy program on mothers' weight. It is hypothesized that the program causes a wide disparity in per calorie costs between energy-dense and energy-dilute foods and thus aggravating the obesity problem. The estimated elasticities reveal that, mothers' BMI is inversely related to the price of subsidized, energy-dense food and directly to the price of a high diet quality but expensive food items suggesting that the program aggravates obesity by lowering the direct costs of becoming obese. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.