Food environment and childhood obesity: The effect of dollar stores

Drichoutis, Andreas C. and Nayga, Rodolfo M. and Rouse, Heather L. and Thomsen, Michael R. (2014): Food environment and childhood obesity: The effect of dollar stores.

Abstract

In this paper we examine the effect of dollar stores on children's Body Mass Index (BMI). We use a dataset compiled by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement which created and implemented the BMI screening process for all public school children in the state of Arkansas. We combine propensity score matching with difference-in-differences methods to deal with time-invariant as well time-varying unobserved factors. We find no evidence that the presence of dollar stores within a reasonably close proximity of the child's residence increases BMI. In fact, we see an increase in BMI when dollar stores leave a child's neighborhood. Given the proliferation of dollar stores in rural and low-income urban areas, the question of how dollar stores could contribute to dietary health should be considered in efforts to combat childhood obesity.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Childhood obesity; foot-at-home; propensity score matching; difference-in-difference
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C3 - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models ; Multiple Variables > C31 - Cross-Sectional Models ; Spatial Models ; Treatment Effect Models ; Quantile Regressions ; Social Interaction Models; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C3 - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models ; Multiple Variables > C33 - Panel Data Models ; Spatio-temporal Models; D - Microeconomics > D1 - Household Behavior and Family Economics > D10 - General; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I10 - General; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics

References

Abadie, A. (2005). Semiparametric difference-in-differences estimators. The Review of Economic Studies 72 (1), 1-19.

Angelucci, M. and O. Attanasio (2013). The demand for food of poor urban mexican households: Understanding policy impacts using structural models. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 5 (1), 146{78.

Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI) (2012). Year nine assessment of childhood and adolescent obesity in arkansas (fall 2011 - spring 2012). Little Rock, AR: ACHI .

Benshimol Severin, C., R. Benson-Armer, A. Martinez, and P. Moore (2011). Entrenched frugality? The american consumer today. Technical report, McKinsey & Company.

Bertrand, M., E. Duffo, and S. Mullainathan (2004). How much should we trust differences-in-differences estimates? The Quarterly Journal of Economics 119 (1), 249-275.

Besley, T. and A. Case (2000). Unnatural experiments? Estimating the incidence of endogenous policies. The Economic Journal 110 (467), 672-694.

Blundell, R. and M. C. Dias (2000). Evaluation methods for non-experimental data. Fiscal Studies 21 (4), 427-468.

Blundell, R., M. C. Dias, C. Meghir, and J. van Reenen (2004). Evaluating the employment impact of a mandatory job search program. Journal of the European Economic Association 2 (4), 569-606.

Blundell, R., A. Duncan, and C. Meghir (1998). Estimating labor supply responses using tax reforms. Econometrica 66 (4), 827-861.

Cochran, W. G. and D. B. Rubin (1973). Controlling bias in observational studies: A review. Sankhya: The Indian Journal of Statistics, Series A 35 (4), 417-446.

Courtemanche, C. and A. Carden (2011). Supersizing supercenters? The impact of walmart supercenters on body mass index and obesity. Journal of Urban Economics 69 (2), 165-181.

Dunn, R. A. (2010). The effect of fast-food availability on obesity: An analysis by gender, race, and residential location. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 92 (4), 1149-1164.

Fan, M. and Y. Jin (2013). Do neighborhood parks and playgrounds reduce childhood obesity? American Journal of Agricultural Economics 96 (1), 26-42.

Florida, R. (2012). What dollar store locations reveal about america. Available at http: // www. citylab. com/ work/ 2012/ 02/ what-dollar-store-locations-reveal-about-america/1115/ (last accessed February 19, 2015).

Frieden, T. R., W. Dietz, and J. Collins (2010). Reducing childhood obesity through policy change: Acting now to prevent obesity. Health Affairs 29 (3), 357-363.

Goldberg, M. E. and K. Gunasti (2007). Creating an environment in which youths are encouraged to eat a healthier diet. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 26 (2), 162-181.

IBISWorld Inc. (2014). Dollar & variety stores market research report. Technical report, IBISWorld Inc. Industry Report 45299.

Institute of Medicine (IOM) (2012). Accelerating progress in obesity prevention: Solving the weight of the nation. Washington D.C.: The National Academies Press.

Justus, M. B., K. W. Ryan, J. Rockenbach, C. Katterapalli, and P. Card-Higginson (2007). Lessons learned while implementing a legislated school policy: Body mass index assessments among arkansass public school students. Journal of School Health 77 (10), 706-713.

Kuczmarski, R. J., C. L. Ogden, S. S. Guo, L. M. Grummer-Strawn, K. M. Flegal, Z. Mei, R. Wei, L. R. Curtin, A. F. Roche, and C. L. Johnson (2002). 2000 CDC growth charts for the united states: Methods and development. Vital Health Statistics 11 (246).

Lechner, M. (2008). A note on endogenous control variables in causal studies. Statistics & Probability Letters 78 (2), 190-195.

National Research Council (2010). Bridging the evidence gap in obesity prevention: A framework to inform decision making. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Natunewicz, A. T. (2011). Dollar days: How dollar stores are growing in a weak economy. Colliers International White Paper, Available at http://www.colliers.com/~/ media/ FB29D4F8B5414D89B582207B642DA605. ashx (last accessed February 17, 2014).

NPD Group (2014). Millennial shoppers increase overall brick-and-mortar visits. Available at https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/dollar-stores-see-largest-increase-in-shopping-visits-among-brick-and-mortar-retailers/ (last accessed January 20, 2015).

Ogden, C. L., M. D. Carroll, L. R. Curtin, M. M. Lamb, and K. M. Flegal (2010). Prevalence of high body mass index in us children and adolescents, 2007-2008. JAMA 303 (3), 242-249.

Ogden, C. L., K. M. Flegal, M. D. Carroll, and C. L. Johnson (2002). Prevalence and trends in overweight among us children and adolescents, 1999-2000. JAMA 288 (14), 1728-1732.

Rosenbaum, P. R. and D. B. Rubin (1985). Constructing a control group using multivariate matched sampling methods that incorporate the propensity score. The American Statistician 39 (1), 33-38.

Stambuck, H. (2013). The american diet: Surviving a meat-sweet desert. University of Arkansas Research Frontiers, Available at http://researchfrontiers.uark.edu/17124.php (last accessed February 17, 2014).

Story, M., K. M. Kaphingst, R. Robinson-O'Brien, and K. Glanz (2008). Creating healthy food and eating environments: Policy and environmental approaches. Annual Review of Public Health 29 (1), 253-272.