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My theory on the Walmart Diet — 15 Comments

  1. I tried it. I keep going to Walmart and shopping until I drop, but I don’t lose a pound!

    Next time I’m there I going to do 30 reps of bench-pressing the two dozen doughnut boxes before I put them in my cart.

  2. Neo, that’s a good explanation to me. Like you say, you have to do a LOT more walking in them than in a Ma and Pa store.

  3. I have a new walmart that’s closest to me. It also seems to have the widest aisles. More importantly, it isn’t overly crowded and I can checkout in 5 minutes.

    But…it’s FREAKIN’ HUGE. I need a FREAKIN’ MAP to navigate around. If I need three things that aren’t close to each other, it takes me 30 minutes to find them all.

  4. Don’t think me an elitist, because I happily shop at Walmart regularly. But, to tell the truth when I look at a many of my fellow customers I think:
    “Wow, I have to watch my weight.”

    Our community is a broad mix of small town upscale and down scale country. I have been alert since the downturn in the economy to see if there are more “value shoppers” in our local Walmart. It is inconclusive.

    I do know that Walmart = value for the $$.

  5. I can hardly go to WalMart anymore because I have just a touch of OCD and I want to walk down every aisle because I might miss something I think I need if I don’t.

    I have neither the time nor the money to shop at WalMart!

  6. Off topic, sorry, but RUSSIAN FRAKKIN BOMBERS just landed in Venezuela to perform routine training exercises over neutral waters. One word for you Medvedev, Curacao. Unreal how short term our memories are. Just finishing Between the Wars and it’s a nice analysis of Clinton’s struggle with the deft-wing and moderate right / isolationists in the face of the first phase of the Post Cold War world. Assuming crude stabilizes around $100 / barrel Chavez will not implode and will continue to raise serious red flags for this hemisphere.

  7. Another explanation for the “Walmart Diet” is reverse causality. Walmart execs like to locate new stores in places where the economy is improving, and as people get richer they tend to lose weight. If those two things are true we can get the result of the paper without any actual causal effect of Walmart on health. Notice in column 6 of table 2 when they add county-specific time trends (one way to account for changes in county attributes like the economy) the effect becomes smaller and insignificant.

    I’m not convinced their story isn’t true, but neither is it rock-solid. I’d like to see the authors either a) add more economic controls besides just unemployment and that questionable imputed income measure they use, or even better b) run a placebo regression in which they see whether adding a Walmart has any effect the year before the Walmart actually opens. If the true cause is economic changes in the area then the placebo should turn up positive — if the true cause is Walmart affecting health then it should be negative. If they get a negative result on the placebo test I’d be a lot more convinced they are right. Then we could debate exactly how it works (wealth, exercise, etc.).

  8. I haven’t been in Walmart enough to know for sure, but I’ll bet that the milk and bread are located waaaaay at the back…just like every other grocery store.

    Having said that, I have to say that I think Walmart is, on balance, a good thing. It gives lower-income folks a chance to buy decent stuff at a decent price, thus stretching their dollar. Nothing wrong with that. But even if I had a Walmart nearby, I think I’d still buy my groceries at Kroger…GOTTA be easier to find things.

  9. Maybe the cookie and ice cream aisles should be 200 flights of stairs up….While the brocolli replaces the tabloids beside the checkout.

  10. I really like the freedom of being able to buy any colored Chinese t-shirt I want. Woo-hoo! We’re number 1 !!

  11. Neo, that skit was a hoot. Probably more funny than it would have been if I had watched it too. Thanks.

  12. Wal-Mart is the place where I work as a cashier. My Masters in Social Work did not scare away my job interviewer, nor did my age. I enjoyed this post and will share it with co-workers, especially the diet.

  13. I confess. I love Walmart. I remember the first time I ever saw one and the delight my grandmother and great aunt felt at not having to ever go back to the crummy, rude and dirty mom and pop stores on Main Street ever again.

  14. Pingback:A Walk down Memory Lane with the Den Mother, Day 2 « Musings from the Den Mother

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