Obesity in America Regression Project
Autor: Joshua • August 23, 2017 • 1,612 Words (7 Pages) • 792 Views
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Table 1 shows the regression results. While the signs of the coefficients for each independent variables are as expected, statistical significance is lacking. The median household income variable is the only statistically significant variable at the 5% level. The magnitude of the median household income variable is quite low though and does not suggest the existence of a strong relationship between the income and obesity.
Though the equation I modeled is not statistically significant, I feel that the theory is still valid for reasons stated in the first section of this paper. Further research is necessary to draw conclusions on what is causing obesity rates to rise drastically in the U.S. Multicollinearity between the variables was not problematic in this research but it is probable that a relevant variable was omitted. There are many factors that influence obesity and because this study only examined five possible determinants, there is room for expansion within the research.
A weakness of this research was the small sample size of fifty data points. Because data for some variables is from the County Health Rankings, access to the other variables (age and median household income) at the county level could drastically improve the sample size. County Health Rankings data is also available for 2011 although not all of the same categories of measurement were used. By altering the independent variables so that data from both years was employed, it would be possible to use a fixed effect estimator in the equation to account for the effects of an omitted variable. The use of a fixed effect estimator could alleviate the bias resulting from omitted relevant variables.
- Conclusion
It is also possible that state obesity rates have more to do with cultural attitudes toward food and nutrition than with quantitative measurements. Americans are living in a time of excess and abundance. Previous generations of humans practiced subsistence living because it was the only option available. Today there are seemingly endless food choices and not all of them are nutritionally valuable despite their low price and taste appeal. As abundance has grown so too have the waistlines of Americans. It is vital that the obesity epidemic is tackled in order to mitigate health problems and the costs associated with them in the U.S.
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V. Data Appendix
State
OB
AGE
INC
EDU
FOOD
REC
Alabama
32.2
37.9
40976
55
60
8
Alaska
24.5
33.8
58198
63
56
11
Arizona
24.3
35.9
47279
58
72
8
Arkansas
30.1
37.4
38571
52
46
8
California
24
35.2
54459
59
79
9
Colorado
21
36.1
60442
66
59
12
Connecticut
22.5
40
66452
65
72
15
Delaware
28
38.8
55269
59
72
14
Florida
26.6
40.7
44243
58
82
9
Georgia
29.6
35.3
44108
58
65
9
Hawaii
22.7
38.6
58507
66
78
6
Idaho
26.5
34.6
47014
61
52
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