title: Effect of Meat Price on Race and Gender Disparities in Obesity, Mortality and Quality of Life in the US: A Model-Based Analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are large differences in the burden and health implications of obesity by race and gender in the US. It is unclear to what extent policies modifying caloric consumption change the distribution of the burden of obesity and related health outcomes. Meat is a large component of the American diet. We investigate how changing meat prices (that may result from policies or from exogenous factors that reduce supply) might impact the burden of obesity by race and gender.
  
  
  METHODS
  We construct a microsimulation model that evaluates the 15-year body-mass index (BMI) and mortality impact of changes in meat price (5, 10, 25, and 50% increase) in the US adult population stratified by age, gender, race, and BMI.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Under each price change evaluated, relative to the status quo, white males, black males, and black females are expected to realize more dramatic reduction in 2030 obesity prevalence than white females. Life expectancy gains are also projected to differ by subpopulation, with black males far less likely to benefit from an increase in meat prices than other groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Changing meat prices has considerable potential to affect population health differently by race and gender. In designing interventions that alter the price of foods to consumers, it is not sufficient to assess health effects based solely on the population as a whole, since differential effects across subpopulations may be substantial.
authors.affiliation: Department of Management Science & Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pitt
authors.affiliation: Division of General Medical Disciplines, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America.|Center for Health Policy and the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Eran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bendavid
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044383:Black People; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002138:Calibration; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003132:Commerce; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004032:Diet; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000191:economics*; D008461:Meat Products / Q000191:economics; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life; D012306:Risk; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult