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The Environmental and Health Costs of Alternative Diets: A University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations and Theses in Agricultural Economics Agricultural Economics Department 8-2014 The nE vironmental and Health Costs of Alternative Diets: A Comparative Study of the U.S. Diet Relative to the French, Japanese, Mediterranean, and Nordic Diets Sarah Rehkamp University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/agecondiss Part of the Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons, Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Comparative Nutrition Commons, International and Community Nutrition Commons, and the Other Medicine and Health Sciences Commons Rehkamp, Sarah, "The nE vironmental and Health Costs of Alternative Diets: A Comparative Study of the U.S. Diet Relative to the French, Japanese, Mediterranean, and Nordic Diets" (2014). Dissertations and Theses in Agricultural Economics. 21. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/agecondiss/21 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Agricultural Economics Department at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses in Agricultural Economics by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH COSTS OF ALTERNATIVE DIETS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE U.S. DIET RELATIVE TO THE FRENCH, JAPANESE, MEDITERRANEAN, AND NORDIC DIETS by Sarah Rehkamp A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science Major: Agricultural Economics Under the Supervision of Professor Azzeddine Azzam Lincoln, Nebraska August, 2014 THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH COSTS OF ALTERNATIVE DIETS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE U.S. DIET RELATIVE TO THE FRENCH, JAPANESE, MEDITERRANEAN, AND NORDIC DIETS Sarah Rehkamp, M.S. University of Nebraska, 2014 Advisor: Azzeddine Azzam This thesis contributes to the literature on sustainable consumption by using scenario analysis to evaluate the environmental and health costs of the U.S. diet relative to the French, Japanese, Mediterranean, and Nordic diets, identified in the literature as healthier diets. As a first step in estimating environmental costs, the energy efficiencies of each diet are calculated by decomposing each of the diets into their respective components. Then, the dietary efficiencies are translated into CO 2 emissions. As a first step in estimating health costs, a pooled cross-section time-series dataset is used to find the association between BMI and five countries, representative of the five diets. The costs are assessed using estimates in the literature of the social cost of carbon per ton and the health costs associated with an increase in BMI. Findings suggest that the U.S. diet is more environmentally costly than the Japanese and Mediterranean diets and less environmentally costly compared to the French and Nordic diets. All four alternative diets result in reduced BMI and, hence, reduced health costs compared to the United States. When aggregating the costs, the Mediterranean diet is the least costly when dietary compositions shifts, but total caloric consumption is held constant at the U.S. level. However, the Japanese diet is the least costly when both dietary composition and total caloric consumption are allowed to shift to the respective level in each diet. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge those who were along with me on this journey. First, I would like express my gratitude to Dr. Azzeddine Azzam, my advisor, who provided support and guidance throughout the research process. I have learned so much from you during the time we worked together. I am grateful for my committee members. I appreciate Dr. Christopher Gustafson’s contributions including his insight, careful editing, and positivity. Dr. Georgia Jones provided valuable input from a nutrition and health sciences perspective. I would like to thank my parents for always encouraging me, especially in pursuing my educational goals. A special thank you is extended to my husband, Chris, for his unwavering support. Finally, I would like to thank the other faculty, staff, and students in our department who have shared in and shaped my experience. iv OUTLINE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii OUTLINE .......................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii DEFINITION OF ABBREVIATIONS.............................................................................. ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 1.1 Motivation ................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Objectives ................................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Organization of Work ............................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 2: DIET AND THE ENVIRONMENT ........................................................... 5 2.1 Related Literature...................................................................................................... 6 2.1.1 Energy Consumption and GHGs ....................................................................... 6 2.1.2 Energy and Food ................................................................................................ 7 2.1.3 GHG Emissions in Food and Diets .................................................................... 9 2.2 Methods and Results ............................................................................................... 15 2.2.1 Diet Decomposition ......................................................................................... 15 2.2.2 Energy Efficiency Calculations ....................................................................... 18 2.2.3 Dietary Energy Composition ........................................................................... 20 2.2.4 GHG Emissions ............................................................................................... 21 2.2.5 GHG Emissions Extended ............................................................................... 24 2.3 Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 26 CHAPTER 3: DIET AND HEALTH ............................................................................... 28 3.1 Related Literature.................................................................................................... 28 3.1.1 Defining and Measuring Weight Status ........................................................... 28 3.1.2 Rise of Obesity ................................................................................................. 29 3.1.3 Relationship to Other Diseases ........................................................................ 32 3.1.4 The Causes of Obesity ..................................................................................... 33 3.1.4.1 Biological .................................................................................................. 34 3.1.4.2 Urbanization .............................................................................................. 34 3.1.4.3 Technological Change .............................................................................. 35 3.1.4.4 Prices and Income ..................................................................................... 37 3.1.4.5 Total Economic Costs ............................................................................... 39 3.1.4.6 Restaurants and Fast Food ........................................................................ 41 v 3.1.4.7 Females in Labor Force ............................................................................ 43 3.1.4.8 Smoking .................................................................................................... 44 3.1.4.9 Behavior .................................................................................................... 45 3.1.4.10 Culture..................................................................................................... 45 3.1.4.11 Social Groups .......................................................................................... 46 3.1.4.12 Education and Information ..................................................................... 46 3.1.4.13 Summary ................................................................................................. 47 3.2 Model ...................................................................................................................... 47 3.2.1 Data Set Development and Variables .............................................................. 47 3.2.2 Regressions ...................................................................................................... 49 3.2.3 Dietary Effect on BMI ..................................................................................... 52 3.2.4 Summary of Results ........................................................................................
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