Identifying the effect of macroeconomic factors in cardiovascular diseases and diabetes

Purpose and objectives: The main objective of this work is to identify the effect of the macroeconomic determinants of obesity in the comorbidities of obesity. The present research has the intention to provide more evidence on the topic and inspire nontraditional approaches for the study of the comorbidities of obesity. Methodological framework: The modernization theory and the world systems theory are used as a framework to relate different macroeconomic determinants of obesity with their impact in the total number of deaths attributed to cardiovascular diseases and diabetes type 2. Results: Using an error correction model with a panel dataset of six countries over a period of 25 years (1995-2019) it is found that food exports and foreign direct investment in the food sector from the United States to the countries in the dataset are not related to the deaths attributed to cardiovascular diseases and diabetes type 2 in the short run, however the analysis demonstrates a negative relation between cardiovascular diseases and income inequality. Discussion: Given that the findings of this work are based on the analysis of broadly defined macroeconomic measures, more in depth research on the long and short run consequences of growth, and distribution of income on obesity and its related effects, such as the total number of deaths attributed to cardiovascular diseases and diabetes type 2 is needed.