Presentation at the International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE)
Keshav Sureka presented the paper «Heterogenous Effects of BMI on Life Expectancy: A comparative study of USA and India» at the International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE), organized in Delhi, India, from 2nd August, 2024 to 7th August, 2024.
About the conference:
International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE) is a triennial flagship conference of International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE). ICAE-2024, 32nd edition, was organized in Delhi, India, from 2nd August, 2024 to 7th August, 2024. The theme of the conference was “Transformation Towards Sustainable Agri-Food Systems”. The conference offers a distinctive platform, providing a golden opportunity for the agricultural academic institutions and researchers to convene in person, exchange knowledge, and actively contribute to the global agricultural research community.
Date of presentation: 4th August 2024.
About the paper:
Title: Heterogenous Effects of BMI on Life Expectancy: A comparative study of USA and India
Authors: Zilberman, David (University of California, Berkeley), Bansal, Sangeeta (Jawaharlal Nehru University), Sureka, Keshav (ETH Zurich).
Abstract: In this paper we estimate the macro relationship between BMI and life-expectancy for two countries USA and India. Using this relation, we derive the optimal BMI threshold for the two countries. Based on these optimal estimates we derive the loss in life expectancy for states in India and USA because of deviation from the optimal BMI levels. Finally, we estimate the monetary value of loss in life expectancy.
Findings: We find that BMI levels are much higher in USA than in India, however in India there is an emerging problem of double burden of malnutrition where in some of the states are suffering from undernutrition whereas some states are suffering from rapidly increasing obese population. We also notice that some Indian states have higher life-expectancy than some of the states in US. Our empirical estimates yield optimal BMI of US much higher than that of India indicating the difference in quality and access of health care system in the two countries. Finally, we find that some states in US loose about 1 year of life expectancy due to obesity such as Mississippi and West Virginia. Surprisingly we find similar losses in life expectancy for some states in India like Delhi and Punjab.
