Globalization and obesity: a logitudinal, cross-national examination of a global epidemic

Obesity is gaining attention as a worldwide problem, particularly among poor and emerging economies. Evaluating leading obesogenic theoretical pathways from a global structural perspective exposes the effect of globalization on body weight. I test competing obesogenic pathways cross-nationally to assess economic development and food security mechanisms among poor nations. I also test the influence of structural convergence theories on body mass to measure their respective magnitudes. Cross-national longitudinal regression analyses are implemented to develop obesity theory sympathetic to macrostructural research in economic development. Results suggest international obesity to be, in part, the effect of counterintuitive effects of foreign investment exacerbated by existing economic vulnerabilities.