Macroeconomic Causes and Effects of Noncommunicable Disease: The Case of Diet and Obesity

Technological change has made calorie consumption cheaper by lowering food costs while raising calorie expenditure ‘costs’ by making jobs more sedentary. Globalization has also contributed to unhealthy diets and increased obesity prevalence. This has imposed substantial direct (medical) and indirect (productivity loss) costs on economies. In many countries, indirect losses may be higher than direct costs. Improvement in diets is likely to impact particular sectors of the global food economy, for example, livestock products and feed cereals, with substantial broader implications for some developing economies. Of the dietary policy measures available, consumer education and information provision have been most commonly applied.