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Weight gain in adolescents and their peers

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Author Info
Halliday, Timothy J.
Kwak, Sally

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Abstract

Despite the urgent public health implications, relatively little is yet known about the effect of peers on adolescent weight gain. We describe trends and features of adolescent BMI in a nationally representative dataset and document correlations in weight gain among peers. We find strong correlations between own body mass index (BMI) and peers' BMI's. Though the correlations are especially strong in the upper ends of the BMI distribution, the relationship is smooth and holds over almost the entire range of adolescent BMI. Furthermore, the results are robust to the inclusion of school fixed effects and basic controls for other confounding factors such as race, sex, and age. Some recent research in this area considers whether or not adolescent weight gain is caused by peers. We discuss the econometric issues in plausibly estimating such effects while accounting for growth spurts and difficulties in defining adolescent obesity. While our work identifies correlations between adolescent BMI and peers' BMI, it is not intended to and cannot fully address the existence of endogenous peer effects.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Economics and Human Biology.

Volume (Year): 7 (2009)
Issue (Month): 2 (July)
Pages: 181-190
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Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:7:y:2009:i:2:p:181-190

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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622964

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Keywords: Obesity Peer effects Adolescent health;

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References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Deaton, Angus, 1995. "Data and econometric tools for development analysis," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery† & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 33, pages 1785-1882 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Patricia M. Anderson & Kristin F. Butcher & Phillip B. Levine, 2003. "Economic perspectives on childhood obesity," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, issue Q III, pages 30-48. [Downloadable!]
  3. David Cutler & Edward Glaeser & Jesse Shapiro, 2003. "Why Have Americans Become More Obese?," NBER Working Papers 9446, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Alejandro Gaviria & Steven Raphael, 2001. "School-Based Peer Effects And Juvenile Behavior," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(2), pages 257-268, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Arcidiacono, Peter & Nicholson, Sean, 2005. "Peer effects in medical school," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2-3), pages 327-350, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Darius Lakdawalla & Tomas Philipson, 2002. "The Growth of Obesity and Technological Change: A Theoretical and Empirical Examination," NBER Working Papers 8946, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Ethan Cohen-Cole & Jason M. Fletcher, 2008. "Is obesity contagious?: social networks vs. environmental factors in the obesity epidemic," Quantitative Analysis Unit Working Paper QAU08-2, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Angus S. Deaton & Christina Paxson, 1998. "Health, Income, and Inequality over the Life Cycle," NBER Chapters, in: Frontiers in the Economics of Aging, pages 431-462 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  9. Anderson, Patricia M. & Butcher, Kristin F. & Levine, Phillip B., 2003. "Maternal employment and overweight children," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 477-504, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
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  1. Stephen L. Ross, 2009. "Social Interactions within Cities: Neighborhood Environments and Peer Relationships," Working papers 2009-31, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2009. "Grazing, Goods and Girth: Determinants and Effects," NBER Working Papers 15277, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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