Escaping Paternalism: Rationality, Behavioral Economics, and Public Policy (Cambridge Studies in Economics, Choice, and Society)

by Mario J. Rizzo

The new, lower thresholds increased the number of Americans classified as overweight or obese by more than 35 million overnight (Kuczmarski and Flegal 2000). What motivated the WHO and NIH to adopt the new recommendations? We cannot say for sure, but we can venture an educated guess. The WHO report, which heavily influenced the NIH’s later decision to change the BMI thresholds, “was drafted and written under the auspices of the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF),” an organization “primarily funded by Hoffman-LaRoche (the maker of the weight-loss drug Xenical) and Abbott Laboratories (the maker of the weight-loss drug Meridia)” (Oliver 2006, 28–29). These companies stood to benefit from more people being qualified for coverage of their products by private and governmental health insurance. Yet the involvement of the WHO and NIH, both organizations associated with unselfish advocacy of public health, provided cover for the private interests involved.