Does Life Satisfaction Explain Body Mass Index? Policy Implications of Subjective Wellbeing in Obesity Interventions
Date
2013-10-03
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
Recently, subjective wellbeing, or more popularly, happiness and life satisfaction, have received growing interest from social scientists, policy makers, and the public alike. This thesis applies Wellbeing, Self-determination, and Social Cognitive theories, and investigates the role of subjective wellbeing for obesity. The main methodology is multivariate regression with ordinary least square, Logit, and two-stage least square estimators. The data are from the Canadian Community Health Survey, 2010. Results show that subjective wellbeing has negative, independent impact on body mass index (BMI) and on the probability of being obese after controlling for the conventionally studied determinants of obesity like age, gender, income, and education. The study contributes to the literature on obesity and suggests possible policy interventions on obesity from the perspective of subjective wellbeing.
Description
Keywords
Subjective Wellebing, Obesity, Life satisfaction, Public Policy, Public health
Citation
Degree
Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.)
Department
Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy
Program
Public Policy