Ambient Temperature and Adult Obesity: Evidence from U.S. County-Level Panel Data

Xiaoxi Qi; Tianyi Tao; Kai Cheng; Xuan Liu; Longying Lai

doi:10.2991/978-94-6239-774-3_7

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Ambient Temperature and Adult Obesity: Evidence from U.S. County-Level Panel Data

Authors

Xiaoxi Qi¹^{, *}, Tianyi Tao¹, Kai Cheng², Xuan Liu³, Longying Lai⁴

¹Department of Economics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

²Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

³Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

⁴Simon Business School, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

^*Corresponding author. Email: xiaoxiq15@gmail.com

Corresponding Author

Xiaoxi Qi

Available Online 11 September 2026.

DOI: 10.2991/978-94-6239-774-3_7 How to use a DOI?
Keywords: Adult obesity; Ambient temperature; Climate change and health; County-level panel data; Environmental determinants of obesity
Abstract: Adult obesity has been extensively studied in economics and public health, yet the empirical role of ambient climate conditions remains underexplored. This paper examines the relationship between average ambient temperature and adult obesity using U.S. county-level panel data from 2006 to 2018. Using fixed-effects regressions with controls for socioeconomic, demographic, and environmental factors, the analysis exploits within-county variation over time. The results indicate that higher ambient temperatures are associated with higher adult obesity rates, even after accounting for correlated environmental conditions. The findings highlight ambient temperature as a relevant environmental correlate of obesity and underscore the importance of environmental context in public health policy discussions.
Open Access: Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title: Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Mathematical Statistics and Economic Analysis (MSEA 2026
Series: Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research
Publication Date: 11 September 2026
ISBN: 978-94-6239-774-3
ISSN: 2352-5428
DOI: 10.2991/978-94-6239-774-3_7 How to use a DOI?
Open Access: Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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ris enw bib

TY  - CONF
AU  - Xiaoxi Qi
AU  - Tianyi Tao
AU  - Kai Cheng
AU  - Xuan Liu
AU  - Longying Lai
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/11
TI  - Ambient Temperature and Adult Obesity: Evidence from U.S. County-Level Panel Data
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Mathematical Statistics and Economic Analysis (MSEA 2026
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 74
EP  - 82
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-774-3_7
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-774-3_7
ID  - Qi2026
ER  -

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