DO THEY KNOW WHAT IS AT RISK? HEALTH RISK PERCEPTION AMONG THE OBESE
研究了50-62岁肥胖者对多种疾病5年风险的感知准确性，发现他们低估了关节炎和高血压风险，高估了心脏病和中风风险。
The perception of health risks and risky health behaviors are closely associated. In this paper, we investigate the accuracy of health risk perceptions among obese individuals, aged 50-62 years. We compare subjective risk perceptions for various diseases elicited in the American Life Panel to individual's objective risks of the same diseases. We find that obese individuals significantly underestimate their 5-year risks of arthritis or rheumatism and hypertension, whereas they systematically overestimate their 5-year risks of a heart attack and a stroke. Obese individuals are thus aware of some but not all obesity-related health risks. For given diseases, we document substantial heterogeneities in the accuracy of expectations across individuals.