Christian Gregory

Food prices and blood cholesterol.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) cost Americans billions of dollars per year. High cholesterol levels, which are closely related to dietary habits, are a major contributor to CVD. In this article, we study whether changes in food prices are related to cholesterol levels and whether taxes or subsidies on particular foods would be effective in lowering cholesterol levels and, consequently, CVD costs. We find that prices of vegetables, processed foods, whole milk and whole grains are significantly associated with blood cholesterol levels. Having analyzed the costs and benefits of government interventions, we find that a subsidy of vegetables and whole grains would be an efficient way to reduce CVD expenditures.

Chronic Disease, Prescription Medications, and Food Purchases

Purpose: Diet-related chronic diseases like diabetes can be dangerous and expensive to treat, especially for patients who do not follow a recommended diet. Meanwhile, prescription drugs can alleviate the symptoms of or control many diet-related chronic diseases, but these drugs may also weaken the resolve to follow recommended diets (moral hazard). Design: We measure the effect of a diagnosis of chronic disease and subsequent pharmacological treatment on the dietary quality of food purchases using a large panel data set of US consumers. We estimate the effect of prescription drug utilization on food purchases for the following chronic diseases: type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, and obesity. Participants: Panelists of the Information Resources, Inc consumer panel. Measures: Dietary quality is measured as purchases of (1) food groups (ie, fruit, vegetables, and sweets) and (2) nutrients (ie, saturated fat, fiber, sodium, sugar, and total calories). Analysis: Linear regression with mixed effects on pooled panel (household random effects, city fixed effects). Results/Conclusion: We do not find strong effects of either diagnosis or pharmacological treatment of diet-related disease on food purchases.