Weighty arguments: insuring our waistlines.

• Author: Suderman, Peter
• Position: Citings - Brief article

DOES HAVING health insurance make people fat? A July working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research found "strong evidence that being insured increases body mass index and obesity." Not only that but public insurance seemed to have a substantially stronger effect than private insurance: It was associated with an average body mass increase of 2.1 points, vs. a 1.3-point increase for privately insured patients.

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As Congress debates health insurance reform, one of the key arguments for government-mandated universal health insurance in general, and a new public insurance option in particular, is that a better insured population would mean lower costs in the long term. In a health care address on July 22, President Barack Obama warned that without reform "we will not be able to control our deficit."

But if more insurance means more obesity, we may be in a bind. A...