Unhealthy eating and health awareness: evidence from restaurant visitors using consumers’ cell phone geo-location data

Abstract

ABSTRACT Unhealthy eating is a serious public health issue that continues to burden the U.S. health system. But, due to data limitations, most extant research lacks a direct explanation of unhealthy eating behaviour. Using data compiled from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Census’ American Community Survey, SafeGraph mobile device ping data, and web-scraped restaurant characteristics, we examine the relationships between restaurant characteristics, socioeconomic characteristics, health awareness, and the number of patrons at unhealthy eating establishments in the United States. Results obtained through various alternative empirical models confirm the effect of health awareness on unhealthy eating habits. This study adds to a growing literature which study people’s eating behaviour related to weight gain along with other chronic diseases. The results point to important policy implications for mitigating obesity and reducing unhealthy eating.