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Bodyweight and human capital development: Assessing the impact of obesity on socioemotional skills during childhood in Chile

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  • Sarrias, Mauricio
  • Blanco, Alejandra

Abstract

This article analyzes the effect of bodyweight on socioemotional skills for children aged two to 12 years in Chile. Using an instrumental variable approach and a representative survey, we show that both BMI and obesity are causality related to children’s socioemotional development, even after assuming that our instrument is imperfect. Although we did not find significant differences between boys and girls, we do identify heterogeneous effects by age: the weight penalty for girls starts earlier than for boys. Our findings suggest that early interventions for childhood obesity not only might generate positive impacts on children’s health, but also a greater accumulation of non-cognitive human capital in the future.

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  • Sarrias, Mauricio & Blanco, Alejandra, 2022. "Bodyweight and human capital development: Assessing the impact of obesity on socioemotional skills during childhood in Chile," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:47:y:2022:i:c:s1570677x22000867
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2022.101190
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Childhood development; Instrumental variable; Obesity; Socioemotional skills; Chile;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General

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