Weight perception and weight management via information nudges

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

6-2024

Abstract

Being overweight or obese is a serious public health problem. Misperception of one's own weight status and inertia are major obstacles to weight control. To overcome these two problems, we conduct a randomized controlled trial in which participants are presented with the correct weight category based on their body mass index to remove any weight misperception, and then given six biweekly reminders about healthy diet and physical activity via SMS/email. We find that our intervention reduces individuals’ weight misperception and encourages healthier dietary choices. However, it has little impact on their physical activity. We further show that people who were obese and those who underestimated their weight status in the baseline survey maintain healthier dietary choices for at least six months after the intervention.

Keywords

Health behavior, Weight perception, Information nudge, Online survey experiment

Discipline

Asian Studies | Health Economics

Research Areas

Applied Microeconomics

Publication

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

Volume

222

First Page

332

Last Page

353

ISSN

0167-2681

Identifier

10.1016/j.jebo.2024.04.029

Publisher

Elsevier

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2024.04.029

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