Happiness and overweight: Panel data analysis on the differences between male and female

Abstract

Globalization of slimming norm tends to spread the perception that being fat is a source of unhappy especially for the case of female. This paper examines the association between overweight and happiness using global parallel panel data and compares the differences between male and female. Using generalized least squares to estimate the fixed effect panel data models, the empirical results show that happiness increases with percentage of overweight. Happiness tends to make people grow plump for both male and female. Increase in GDP per capita increases the percentage of overweight in a country and the effect is higher for male than female. Social support increases the percentage of overweight in low/middle income countries but reduces the percentage of overweight in high income countries for the case of female. Life expectancy increases the proportion of overweight but it is significant only for the case of male. Overweight and positive affect are negatively related and the impact is higher for male than female. Negative affect are positively associated with overweight. The association between happiness and overweight for female in high income countries tends to exhibit a different pattern in comparing with low or middle income countries.