Lifecycle effects of a recession on health behaviors: Boom, bust, and recovery in Iceland
This study uses individual-level longitudinal data from Iceland, a country that experienced a severe economic crisis in 2008 and substantial recovery by 2012, to investigate the extent to which the effects of a recession on health behaviors are lingering or short-lived and to explore trajectories in...
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ftrepec:oai:RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:20:y:2016:i:c:p:90-107 2024-04-14T08:13:33+00:00 Lifecycle effects of a recession on health behaviors: Boom, bust, and recovery in Iceland Ásgeirsdóttir, Tinna Laufey Corman, Hope Noonan, Kelly Reichman, Nancy E. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X15000763 unknown http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X15000763 article ftrepec 2024-03-19T10:31:00Z This study uses individual-level longitudinal data from Iceland, a country that experienced a severe economic crisis in 2008 and substantial recovery by 2012, to investigate the extent to which the effects of a recession on health behaviors are lingering or short-lived and to explore trajectories in health behaviors from pre-crisis boom, to crisis, to recovery. Health-compromising behaviors (smoking, heavy drinking, sugared soft drinks, sweets, fast food, and tanning) declined during the crisis, and all but sweets continued to decline during the recovery. Health-promoting behaviors (consumption of fruit, fish oil, and vitamins/minerals and getting recommended sleep) followed more idiosyncratic paths. Overall, most behaviors reverted back to their pre-crisis levels or trends during the recovery, and these short-term deviations in trajectories were probably too short-lived in this recession to have major impacts on health or mortality. A notable exception is for binge drinking, which declined by 10% during the 2 crisis years, continued to fall (at a slower rate of 8%) during the 3 recovery years, and did not revert back to the upward pre-crisis trend during our observation period. These lingering effects, which directionally run counter to the pre-crisis upward trend in consumption and do not reflect price increases during the recovery period, suggest that alcohol is a potential pathway by which recessions improve health and/or reduce mortality. Recessions; Health behaviors; Iceland; Economic crisis; Economic recovery; Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) |
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RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) |
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This study uses individual-level longitudinal data from Iceland, a country that experienced a severe economic crisis in 2008 and substantial recovery by 2012, to investigate the extent to which the effects of a recession on health behaviors are lingering or short-lived and to explore trajectories in health behaviors from pre-crisis boom, to crisis, to recovery. Health-compromising behaviors (smoking, heavy drinking, sugared soft drinks, sweets, fast food, and tanning) declined during the crisis, and all but sweets continued to decline during the recovery. Health-promoting behaviors (consumption of fruit, fish oil, and vitamins/minerals and getting recommended sleep) followed more idiosyncratic paths. Overall, most behaviors reverted back to their pre-crisis levels or trends during the recovery, and these short-term deviations in trajectories were probably too short-lived in this recession to have major impacts on health or mortality. A notable exception is for binge drinking, which declined by 10% during the 2 crisis years, continued to fall (at a slower rate of 8%) during the 3 recovery years, and did not revert back to the upward pre-crisis trend during our observation period. These lingering effects, which directionally run counter to the pre-crisis upward trend in consumption and do not reflect price increases during the recovery period, suggest that alcohol is a potential pathway by which recessions improve health and/or reduce mortality. Recessions; Health behaviors; Iceland; Economic crisis; Economic recovery; |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ásgeirsdóttir, Tinna Laufey Corman, Hope Noonan, Kelly Reichman, Nancy E. |
spellingShingle |
Ásgeirsdóttir, Tinna Laufey Corman, Hope Noonan, Kelly Reichman, Nancy E. Lifecycle effects of a recession on health behaviors: Boom, bust, and recovery in Iceland |
author_facet |
Ásgeirsdóttir, Tinna Laufey Corman, Hope Noonan, Kelly Reichman, Nancy E. |
author_sort |
Ásgeirsdóttir, Tinna Laufey |
title |
Lifecycle effects of a recession on health behaviors: Boom, bust, and recovery in Iceland |
title_short |
Lifecycle effects of a recession on health behaviors: Boom, bust, and recovery in Iceland |
title_full |
Lifecycle effects of a recession on health behaviors: Boom, bust, and recovery in Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Lifecycle effects of a recession on health behaviors: Boom, bust, and recovery in Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Lifecycle effects of a recession on health behaviors: Boom, bust, and recovery in Iceland |
title_sort |
lifecycle effects of a recession on health behaviors: boom, bust, and recovery in iceland |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X15000763 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X15000763 |
_version_ |
1796311562968891392 |