Life satisfaction and diet in transition: Evidence from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey

<p>This paper develops a theoretical framework and provides empirical evidence on the impacts of dietand lifestyles on life satisfaction in Russia using 1995-2005 data from the Russian LongitudinalMonitoring Survey. Our results suggest that diet measured as calories, fat, protein, and diversity offood consumption has a statistically significant effect on life satisfaction levels of the Russianpopulation. In addition, living in a region with higher per capita income increases population’s lifesatisfaction. While living in a rural area, having health problems, and having young children affectindividual life satisfaction in Russia in a negative and statistically significantly way. Life satisfaction isalso positively correlated with education and income, and negatively with unemployment. Better understanding of the drivers of life satisfaction and more generally of subjective wellbeing in Russia can assist in the government decision-making processes, including the allocation of scarce resources and the design of public health policies.</p>