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The Orwellian Efficiency of a "Being Fat" Tax

(Digital Vision) The Danish policymakers who implemented the world’s first “fat tax” last week are remarkable not for their directness in addressing the growing Western challenge of obesity, but for…



The Rational War on Fat

An obesity crisis is upon us and the solutions have proven to be stubborn. The most popular policy proposals have been rooted in the assumption that humans will make self-interested…



Who's Ready for a Fat Tax?

obesity doubled over a decade, signaling the rising prevalence of excess weight and the toll it is taking on the health-care system. The medical costs of obesity were estimated to…



Pay Your Weight to Fly

(Photo: Conor Lawless) Our recent Freakonomics Radio podcast “100 Ways to Fight Obesity” looked at some of the social costs of America’s increasing rate of obesity. One airline in Samoa…




Does This Recession Make Me Look Fat? (Ep. 61)

[omny:https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/aaea4e69-af51-495e-afc9-a9760146922b/14a43378-edb2-49be-8511-ab0d000a7030/1e7bf4da-4a5e-48bf-9b95-ab0d001c099a/audio.mp3] (Photo: Ingo Bernhardt) We seem to be in the midst of a national obsession with obesity. Our latest Freakonomics Radio on Marketplace podcast is about some of the surprising…



Episode 163

Does Your DNA Determine Your Weight?

How much control do you really have over your body? Could understanding genetics help combat fat-shaming? And why is Mike’s life coach so happy all the time?…

Freakonomics Radio Live: “The World’s a Mess. But Oysters, They Hold it Down.”

Celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli joins us to co-host an evening of delicious fact-finding: where a trillion oysters went, whether a soda tax can work, and how beer helped build an…



Expanding Waistlines Around the World

…The maps demonstrate that “Polynesia aside, obesity was a rich-world phenomenon in 1980. By 2008 the rich world had itself expanded, bringing obesity to groups within countries that were previously…



Episode 449

How to Fix the Incentives in Cancer Research

For all the progress made in fighting cancer, it still kills 10 million people a year, and some types remain especially hard to detect and treat. Pancreatic cancer, for instance,…


Quarter Pounders With Cheese for Everyone!

…as follows: The death toll from obesity is less than a third of the government’s previous estimate, researchers are reporting today, contradicting warnings that poor diet and physical inactivity are…





Episode 230

The Cheeseburger Diet

One woman’s quest to find the best burger in town can teach all of us to eat smarter.

Why Does the Surgeon General Have to Clean Up Our Mess?

…would be: “tackling childhood obesity, ‘making America a tobacco-free nation’ and improving the ability of the Public Health Service to respond to emergencies.” While these priorities are certainly in sync…



Is Your Neighborhood Making You Fat?

…uncovered a link between the grocery gap and rising obesity, the Los Angeles Times reports. The study found that neighborhoods with dramatically more fast-food restaurants and convenience stores than supermarkets…




Who Will Climb the Piano Stairs?

…though it’s unclear — it’s been a raging success. Stockholm has seen rising obesity rates, especially among young girls, and has tried some other anti-obesity nudges as well. How will…




Soda Makers for Sainthood?

The American Beverage Association has just announced its recommendation that elementary schools no longer sell soda pop in vending machines. “Childhood obesity is a real problem,” ABA president and CEO…



The "Girth-Wealth" Gradient

About 9 percent of health-care costs are directly attributable to obesity, which led Dubner to wonder if we should assess a fat tax (on fat food, that is, not people)…




Denmark Levies the World's First Nationwide Fat Tax

…consumption, others have shown soda taxes to be ineffective at reducing obesity rates. Proof, McWilliams argues, that taxing specific food items is ultimately ineffective, since consumers can simply substitute sugar…



Episode 378

23andMe (and You, and Everyone Else)

The revolution in home DNA testing is giving consumers important, possibly life-changing information. It’s also building a gigantic database that could lead to medical breakthroughs. But how will you deal…

Patience and Crime

…to their body mass index (obesity); 3) 5 the willingness of individuals to engage in stable relationships (the marriage rate). In line with the theoretical prediction by Davis (1988), we…



The FREAK-est Links

Obesity linked to higher cancer risks. (Earlier) The Wii continues to dominate the industry. (Earlier) Is human sexuality an “evolutionary arms race”? How should corporations approach philanthropy? Becker and Posner…



The FREAK-est Links

New book advocates following your gut. U.S. obesity rates keep on climbing. (Earlier) Ways to avoid hospital-transmitted infections. (Earlier) Red Lobster launches health-conscious Web site. (Earlier)…