The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Obesity

John Cawley is an associate professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University. His primary field of research is health economics, with a focus on the economics of obesity. He studies the effect of body weight on labor market outcomes such as wage rates, unemployment, employment disability, and the transition from welfare to work. He also investigates the role of body weight in youth behavior, such as skill attainment, smoking and sexual activity. His other research concerns treatments for obesity, such as anti-obesity drugs and bariatric surgery. He is also evaluating workplace and school interventions to prevent or reduce obesity. Other research concerns the impact of food advertising on the consumption of specific branded food items by children and youth.

Comprehensive and impressive... For those who want to master the last two decades of social science research on obesity by reading a single volume, [t]his handbook provides an accessible crash course.

• 1. Introduction: John Cawley of Cornell University ; 2. The Epidemiology of Obesity: Aviva Must and E. Whitney Evans of Tufts University ; 3. The Demography of Obesity: Christine L. Himes of Syracuse University ; 4. The Cliometrics of BMI and Obesity: Scott Alan Carson of University of Texas - Permian Basin ; 5. The Anthropology of Obesity: Amanda L. Thompson and Penny Gordon-Larsen of University of North Carolina ; 6. The Psychology of Obesity: Ashley Moskovich of Duke University, Jeff Hunger of California State University at Fullerton, and Traci Mann of University of Minnesota. ; 7. The Sociology of Obesity: Jeffrey Sobal of Cornell University ; 8. The Economics of Obesity: John Cawley of Cornell University ; 9. Behavioural Economics and Obesity: Julie S. Downs and George Lowenstein of Carnegie-Mellon University ; 10. Obesity Politics and Policy: Rogan Kersh of New York University and James Morone of Brown University ; 11. Fat Studies: Esther D. Rothblum of San Diego State University ; 12. Publicly-Available Data Useful for Social Science Research on Obesity: Inas Rashad Kelly of Queens College, City University of New York ; 13. The Complex Systems Science of Obesity: Diane T. Finegood of Simon Fraser University ; 14. Challenges for Causal Inference in Obesity Research: M. Christopher Auld of University of Calgary and Paul Grootendorst of University of Toronto ; 15. Race, Ethnicity and Obesity: Renee Walker and Ichiro Kawachi of Harvard University ; 16. Socioeconomic Status and Obesity: Lindsay McLaren of University of Calgary ; 17. The Nutrition Transition and Obesity: Barry M. Popkin of University of North Carolina - Chapel ; 18. Peer Effects and Obesity: Jason M. Fletcher of Yale University ; 19. Maternal Employment: Patricia M. Anderson of Dartmouth College ; 20. Depression and Obesity: Ellen Granberg of Clemson University ; 21. Food Marketing, Television and Video Games: Elizabeth A. Vandewater of Research Triangle Institute and Ellen A. Wartella of Northwestern University ; 22. Portion Size and the Obesity Epidemic: Tanja V.E. Kral of University of Pennsylvania and Barbara J. Rolls of Pennsylvania State University ; 23. Mindless Eating: Brian Wansink of Cornell University ; 24. Food Assistance and Obesity: Michele Ver Ploeg of U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service ; 25. Physical Activity and the Built Environment: James F. Sallis, Marc A. Adams, and Ding Ding of San Diego State University ; 26. Food Deserts: Dianna Smith and Steven Cummins of University of London ; 27. Food Prices, Income and Body Weight: Darius Lakdawalla of University of Southern California and Yuhui Zheng of the National Bureau of Economic Research ; 28. Policy and Childhood Obesity: John Cawley of Cornell University and Barrett Kirwan of University of Maryland ; 29. Obesity and Medical Costs: Eric Finkelstein and Hae Kyung Yang of Duke University / National University of Singapore ; 30. Obesity and Mortality: Neil K. Mehta of University of Michigan and Virginia W. Chang of University of Pennsylvania ; 31. Schooling and Human Capital: Khoa Truong of Clemson University and Roland Sturm of RAND ; 32. Labor Market Consequences: Employment, Wages, Disability, and Absenteeism: Susan L. Averett of Lafayette College ; 33. Bias, Stigma and Discrimination: Rebecca M. Puhl of Yale University ; 34. Medical and Social Scientific Debates over Body Weight: Abigail C. Saguy of University of California - Los Angeles and Paul Campos of University of Colorado ; 35. The Imperative of Changing Public Policy To Address Obesity: Christina A. Roberto and Kelly D. Brownell of Yale ; 36. Economic Perspectives on Obesity Policy: Tomas J. Philipson and Richard A. Posner of University of Chicago ; 37. Lessons for Obesity Policy from the Tobacco Wars: Frank J. Chaloupka of University of Illinois at Chicago. ; 38. Food Taxes and Subsidies: Evidence and Policies for Obesity Prevention: Lisa M. Powell and Jamie F. Chriqui of University of Illinois at Chicago ; 39. School-Based Interventions: Tamara Brown of Liverpool University. ; 40. Workplace Obesity Prevention Programs: Ron Z. Goetzel of Emory University, Niranjana Kowlessar of Thomson Reuters, Enid Chung Roemer of Emory University, Xiaofei Pei, of Thomson Reuters, Maryam Tabrizi of Thomson Reuters, Rivka C. Liss-Levinson of Emory University, Daniel Samoly of Emory University and Jessica Waddell of Thomson Reuters. ; 41. Community Interventions: Christina D. Economos and Sarah A. Sliwa of Tufts University ; 42. Regulation of Food Advertising: Pauline M. Ippolito of Federal Trade Commission ; 43. Unintended Consequences of Obesity Prevention Messages: Sahara Byrne and Jeff Niederdeppe of Cornell University ; 44. Behavioral Treatment of Obesity: LaShanda Jones-Corneille, Rebecca M. Stack and Thomas Wadden of University of Pennsylvania ; 45. Anti-Obesity Drugs and Bariatric Surgery: William Encinosa of Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Dongyi Tony Du of the Food and Drug Administration, and Didem Bernard of Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality ; 46. Correlates of Successful Maintenance of Weight Loss: Victoria Catenacci, Paul MacLean, Lorri Ogden, Sarit Polsky, Holly Wyatt, and James Hill of University of Colorado ; 47. Cost Effectiveness of Anti-Obesity Interventions: Social Science Insights Into Treatment, Prevention, and Policymaking: Larissa Roux of University of British Columbia