A gender gap in ideals of weight reveals lack of progress - Prof. Vidya Mahambare

According to the World Health Organization [WHO], obesity is one of the greatest public health challenges of the 21st century". This is the opening line of the abstract of an NBER working paper released this month. Given the apparent emphasis on health, it comes as a surprise when the abstract ends with: “Married couples, therefore, agree on one thing, that keeping the wife svelte is even more valuable than keeping the husband fit." The abstract doesn’t mention the country under consideration, and we presume somewhat naively it must have been based on data from a developing country with deep-rooted beliefs about gender identities. The country in question, however, is seen as among the world’s most progressive: Switzerland.