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| Introduction: Answering the Age-Old Question: Why Is Uncle Al So Fat? | |
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| Craze or Crisis? | |
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| So Why Now? | |
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| My Soccer Team Eats Oranges | |
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| So How about Adults? Are We Gaining, Too? | |
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| A Growing Waistline Can Be Bad for Your Health | |
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| But Are We the Only Ones Gaining Weight? | |
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| The Longer You Stay, the Bigger You Get | |
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| I'll Take a Deep-Fried Coca-Cola | |
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| First Things First | |
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| Cheap Food Gets Cheaper | |
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| The Rise of French-Fried Potatoes | |
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| Please Pass the High-Fructose Corn Syrup | |
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| A Full Pound of Sausage, Bacon, and Ham: Have a Meaty Morning | |
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| Too Much of a Good Thing | |
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| Kids Are Also Drinking the Kool-Aid | |
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| When Is Enough Enough? | |
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| Why We're Moving Less: (Hint: It's Not Just the La-Z-Boy) | |
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| But I Don't Have Time! | |
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| Not Quite the Jetsons, But... | |
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| Just Be a Marathon Runner | |
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| We're Not Farmers Anymore | |
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| Sprawling Out | |
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| Our Kids Are Also Slowing Down | |
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| Wrapping It Up | |
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| So Where Else Can We Lay the Blame? | |
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| Blame Mom and Dad | |
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| The Just Blame Mom (You Know You Will Anyway) | |
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| Blame the Meds | |
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| Blame the Cigs (One More Theory Goes Up in Smoke) | |
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| Blame the All-Nighter | |
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| Blame the Air Conditioner (Not Cool) | |
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| Blame Pollution (It's a Dirty Business) | |
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| Blame That Nasty "Fat Bug" | |
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| It's the Economy, Stupid | |
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| Beware: Moral Hazard | |
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| Just Bill My Health Insurance | |
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| Is Obesity as Bad as It Used to Be? | |
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| Just Take a Pill or Get a Procedure | |
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| So We're Fat - Who Cares? | |
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| Is Uncle Al Overweight? | |
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| C'mon Now, We're Only Utility Maximizing | |
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| Now, Let's Tear This Argument Apart (and Put It Back Together) | |
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| So Should Dad (and the Government) Care that Uncle Al Is Obese? | |
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| Just Follow the Money | |
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| The Role of Government | |
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| Market Failures | |
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| Externalities | |
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| Market Power | |
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| Public Goods | |
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| Obesity and National Defense | |
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| Imperfect (Asymmetric) Information | |
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| Is There a Role for Government? | |
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| Weighing the Public Policy Issues (for Adults) | |
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| Equity | |
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| Irrationality | |
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| Compelling Public Need | |
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| Revisiting Past Policy | |
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| The Road Ahead | |
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| Summing Up | |
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| Weighing the Public Policy Issues (for Kids) | |
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| First, a Step Back | |
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| Child Abuse? | |
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| School-Based Regulations | |
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| Your Mouth Will Really Groove | |
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| In Closing | |
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| The Employer's Dilemma | |
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| Why Don't Businesses Invest More in the Health of Their Workforce? | |
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| The Dirty Secret about Employee Wellness Programs | |
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| So What's an Employer to Do? | |
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| Could These Programs Get Me in Legal Hot Water? | |
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| The ObesEconomy | |
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| Just How Big Is the Weight-Loss Industry? | |
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| Just Take a Pill | |
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| Bigger and Better | |
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| Invest in New Technology | |
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| In the Name of Progress | |
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| How to Lose Weight Like an Economist | |
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| Economic Weight-Loss Techniques | |
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| A Few More Secrets to Success | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Notes | |
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| About the Authors | |
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| Index | |