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Professor Susan Averett and Nick Stacey ’11 researched obesity in South Africa.
The latest research by Susan Averett, Dana Professor of Economics, and Julie Smith, assistant professor of economics, was featured in the Feb. 6 issue of Time magazine. It has also been mentioned in The Daily Mail (United Kingdom), the National Counseling Society’s website, and Counsel and Heal’s website.
The article, “Your Unpaid Rent Could Make You Fat,” highlights their study on the correlation between weight and the way women manage their money. Their paper was published in the December 2013 edition of Economics and Human Biology.
The article states, “Women who had trouble keeping up with household bills like rent or utilities were more likely to be obese than men in the same fix. And this was true even when [Averett] and her team controlled for income, marital status, and other factors thought to contribute to obesity and debt. Based on her evidence, Averett believes that being behind in household bills might actually be a cause of obesity in women.”
Averett specializes in health economics. Her research has been featured by BBC News, The Boston Globe, PBS, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the Today show with Matt Lauer. She is coauthor of the textbook Women and the Economy: Family, Work, and Pay.
Smith’s research focuses on monetary policy. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Business Week, and MSN.com. She is also co-adviser of the College’s Fed Challenge team with James DeVault, professor of economics. The team won the national championship in 2009 and took second place in 2010.