Kanazawa, Satoshi 
ORCID: 0000-0003-3786-8797 and von Buttlar, Marie Therese
(2019)
A potential role of the widespread use of microwave ovens in the obesity epidemic.
Clinical Psychological Science, 7 (2).
pp. 340-348.
ISSN 2167-7026
Abstract
Organisms acquire more calories from eating hot food than eating the identical food cold; thus, the widespread use of microwave ovens might have played a small role in the current obesity epidemic, just as the widespread use of refrigerators might have retarded the historic increase in obesity a century ago. Analysis of the British Cohort Study showed that, net of dietary habit, physical activities, genetic predisposition, and other demographic factors, the ownership of a microwave was associated with an increase of.781 in body mass index (BMI) and 2.1 kg in weight (when the ownership of other kitchen appliances was not associated with increased BMI or weight), and it more than doubled the odds of being overweight. In the United States from 1960 to 2015, the adult overweight, obesity, and extreme obesity rates were very highly correlated (r =.94–.98) with the proportion of households with microwaves, and it was not because both were consequences of increasing wealth. Net of median household income, the proportion of households with microwaves was very strongly (ds > 1.0) associated with adult overweight, obesity, and extreme obesity rates, while median household income was not at all associated with them. Individual data from the United Kingdom and historical data from the United States highlighted the possible role of the widespread use of microwave ovens in the obesity epidemic.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | © 2018 The Authors |
| Divisions: | Management |
| Subjects: | R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions |
| Date Deposited: | 27 Mar 2019 17:30 |
| Last Modified: | 27 Feb 2024 02:00 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/100373 |
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