Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:59:14.676Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Potential psychological accounts for the relation between food insecurity and body overweight

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2017

Eyal Ert
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Economics and Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Food, and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, 76100, Israel. [email protected]@mail.huji.ac.ilhttp://departments.agri.huji.ac.il/economics/teachers/ert_eyal/http://departments.agri.huji.ac.il/economics/teachers/heiman_amir/index.htm
Amir Heiman
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Economics and Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Food, and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, 76100, Israel. [email protected]@mail.huji.ac.ilhttp://departments.agri.huji.ac.il/economics/teachers/ert_eyal/http://departments.agri.huji.ac.il/economics/teachers/heiman_amir/index.htm

Abstract

We suggest two psychological mechanisms, temporal discounting and feeling of resource scarcity, for explaining the relation between food insecurity and body overweight. We demonstrate how Nettle et al.’s findings could be explained, post hoc, by each of these accounts, suggesting that their data are not rich enough to allow identification of mechanisms that underlie food insecurity and overweight relationship.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aarts, H., Dijksterhuis, A. & Vries, P. (2001) On the psychology of drinking: Being thirsty and perceptually ready. British Journal of Psychology 92(4):631–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bittman, M. & Wajcman, J. (2000) The rush hour: The character of leisure time and gender equity. Social Forces 79(1):165–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drewnowski, A. & Darmon, N. (2005) Food choices and diet costs: An economic analysis. Journal of Nutrition 135(4):900904.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Epper, T., Fehr-Duda, H. & Bruhin, A. (2011) Viewing the future through a warped lens: Why uncertainty generates hyperbolic discounting. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 43(3):169203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frederick, S., Loewenstein, G. & O'Donoghue, T. (2002) Time discounting and time preference: A critical review. Journal of Economic Literature 40(2):351401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, P. A. & Fong, G. T. (2007) Temporal self-regulation theory: A model for individual health behavior. Health Psychology Review 1(1):652.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jabs, J. & Devine, C. M. (2006) Time scarcity and food choices: An overview. Appetite 47(2):196204. Available at: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2006.02.014.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loewenstein, G., O'Donoghue, T. & Rabin, M. (2003) Projection bias in predicting future utility. Quarterly Journal of Economics 118(4):1209–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mani, A., Mullainathan, S., Shafir, E. & Zhao, J. (2013) Poverty impedes cognitive function. Science 341(6149):976–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mattingly, M. J. & Blanchi, S. M. (2003) Gender differences in the quantity and quality of free time: The US experience. Social Forces 81(3):9991030.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milkman, K. L. (2012) Unsure what the future will bring? You may overindulge: Uncertainty increases the appeal of wants over shoulds. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 119(2):163–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radel, R. & Clément-Guillotin, C. (2012) Evidence of motivational influences in early visual perception hunger modulates conscious access. Psychological Science 23(3):232–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shah, A. K., Mullainathan, S. & Shafir, E. (2012) Some consequences of having too little. Science 338(6107):682–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weller, R. E., Cook III, E. W., Avsar, K. B. & Cox, J. E. (2008) Obese women show greater delay discounting than healthy-weight women. Appetite 51(3):563–69. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666308001475.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed