@TechReport{iza:izadps:dp4010,
            	author={Blanchflower, David G. and Oswald, Andrew J. and Landeghem, Bert van},
            	title={Imitative Obesity and Relative Utility},
            	year={2009},
	month={Feb},
            	institution={Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)},
            	address={Bonn},
            	type={IZA Discussion Paper},
            	number={4010},
            	url={https://www.iza.org/publications/dp4010},
	abstract={If human beings care about their relative weight, a form of imitative obesity can emerge (in which people subconsciously keep up with the weight of the Joneses). Using Eurobarometer data on 29 countries, this paper provides cross-sectional evidence that overweight perceptions and dieting are influenced by a person’s relative BMI, and longitudinal evidence from the German Socioeconomic Panel that well-being is influenced by relative BMI. Highly educated people see themselves as fatter − at any given actual weight − than those with low education. These results should be treated cautiously, and fixed-effects estimates are not always well-determined, but there are grounds to take seriously the possibility of socially contagious obesity.},
	keywords={mental health;dieting;peer effects;happiness;imitation;comparisons;body mass index BMI;well-being;obesity},
            }