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My friend Ben Casnocha recently gave me some great advice: he said it would be lot more interesting if I started questioning these studies a little more. Well, as he frequently is, Ben’s right. I previously posted on whether fat people are jolly. Looks like the verdict may not be in. Because while the (admittedly limited) previous study said yes, here’s one that links obesity and unhappiness:
This paper provides insight on the relationship between obesity and happiness. Using the latest available cross sectional data from Germany (GSOEP 2006), UK (BHPS 2005), and Australia (HILDA 2007). We examine whether there is evidence on the impact of overweight on subjective well being. The Hausman test is employed in the univariate and multivariate specifications chosen and reveals evidence for the presence of endogeneity in the German and the Australian data. Instrumental variable analysis is performed under the presence of endogeneity whereas for the UK we run OLS regressions. Results indicate that in all three countries obesity has a negative and significant effect on the subjective well being of individuals. For Germany, using a differences-in-differences methodology, I find that non-overweight/non-obese individuals are on average 0.5 units happier than their overweight/obese counterparts. My findings also have important implications for the effect of other socio-demographic, economic and individual characteristics on well being.
Source: “Obesity and Happiness” from University of Connecticut Department of Economics Working Paper Series
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