Debt May Cause Weight Gain

[james.hendrickson]

Hi Guys,

Science says debt may be a causal factor for obesity.

From Critical Finance Review:

Obesity provides a potentially informative signal about individuals’ choices and preferences. Using National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) data, we estimate that debt delinquency is 20 percent higher among the obese than the non-obese after controlling for an extensive set of financial and economic credit risk factors. The economic significance of obesity for delinquencies is comparable to that of job displacements. Obesity is particularly informative about delinquencies among those with low credit risk. In terms of channels, we find that the conditional obesity effect is partially mediated through health, but is not attributable to individuals’ attitudes, time and risk preferences, or cognitive skills.

Source: Katherine Guthrie and Jan Sokolowsky (2017), "Obesity and Household Financial Distress", Critical Finance Review: Vol. 6: No. 1, pp 133-178. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/104.00000034

[MakeAStash]

Or maybe obesity causes debt! Correlation does not mean causation.

[bjl584]

Debt can probably cause a lot of things. Stress being number one. Stress can lead to tons of health issues.

[disneysteve]

Debt can probably cause a lot of things. Stress being number one. Stress can lead to tons of health issues.

Many people eat excessively when they are stressed, so that can certainly lead to obesity.

Obesity and debt are both often a result of poor impulse control, so it's not surprising that there would be a correlation between the two.

Obesity is also more common as you move lower on the socioeconomic scale.

[msomnipotent]

From my experience, I gained a lot of weight simply from stress. I didn't have any money to be eating a lot. In fact, I ate quite a bit less than normal because we didn't have food all the time. No, I didn't eat fast food either, because that costs money too. My impulse control is just fine. Our debt was caused by my husband's gullibility and stupidity, which just added to my stress. Just about all of my weight gain was in my midsection, which is exactly where they say you gain it when stressed.

I would say it is caused by people sitting at a table all day, staring at bills and wondering how to pay them instead of going out and doing things. I didn't even go to family functions because I didn't want people to offer to bring a dish for us or offer to pay our way for anything.