Graduation Year

2025

Date of Submission

12-2025

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Economics

Reader 1

Laura Grant

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2024 Raj Parekh

Abstract

In this thesis, I investigate the relationships between Lone Star Tick-induced Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS), red meat consumption, and cardiovascular health outcomes within New York State's 62 counties from 2012 to 2021. The analysis examines whether AGS, which forces individuals to reduce red meat consumption, serves as a natural experiment in understanding dietary impacts on cardiovascular disease (CVD). Leveraging panel data, I utilize Fixed Effects (FE) and Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) regression frameworks to disentangle the relationships between red meat expenditure, meat prices, Lone Star Tick prevalence, and health outcomes such as CVD, stroke, coronary heart disease, and heart attack hospitalization and mortality rates.

The results indicate a significant reduction in beef and pork expenditure in counties with higher Lone Star Tick prevalence, particularly in “Reported” and “Established” counties. While certain findings highlight protective effects of vegetable consumption and negative impacts of smoking on health outcomes, the relationship between meat expenditure and CVD remains inconsistent, partly due to data limitations. Despite these challenges, this study underscores the potential of dietary interventions as preventive measures against CVD, providing a foundation for future research into the links between diet, environmental factors, and public health outcomes. The findings offer actionable insights for policymakers to promote healthier dietary practices, such as subsidies for vegetables and targeted public health campaigns on smoking cessation, ultimately contributing to reducing the economic and health burden of chronic diseases.

Download

Share

COinS