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Does weight affect children's test scores and teacher assessments differently?

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  • Zavodny, Madeline

Abstract

The prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity increased dramatically in the United States during the past three decades. This increase has adverse public health implications, but its implication for children's academic outcomes is less clear. This paper uses data from five waves of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten to examine how children's weight is related to their scores on standardized tests and to their teachers’ assessments of their academic ability. The results indicate that children's weight is more negatively related to teacher assessments of their academic performance than to test scores.

Suggested Citation

  • Zavodny, Madeline, 2013. "Does weight affect children's test scores and teacher assessments differently?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 135-145.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:34:y:2013:i:c:p:135-145
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2013.02.003
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    Cited by:

    1. Kosha J. Mehta, 2022. "Effect of sleep and mood on academic performance—at interface of physiology, psychology, and education," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Dané Coetzee & Wilmarié du Plessis & Deidré van Staden, 2021. "Longitudinal Effects of Excessive Weight and Obesity on Academic Performance of Primary School Boys in Different Socio-Economic Statuses: The NW-CHILD Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-15, August.
    3. Joseph Sabia & Daniel Rees, 2015. "Body weight, mental health capital, and academic achievement," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 653-684, September.
    4. Rouse, Kathryn & Hunziker, Brooke, 2020. "Child bodyweight and human capital: Test scores, teacher assessments and noncognitive skills," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Rees, Daniel I. & Sabia, Joseph J., 2014. "The kid's speech: The effect of stuttering on human capital acquisition," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 76-88.
    6. Nicole Black & Sonja C. de New, 2020. "Short, Heavy and Underrated? Teacher Assessment Biases by Children's Body Size," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(5), pages 961-987, October.
    7. Nicole Black & David W. Johnston & Anna Peeters, 2015. "Childhood Obesity and Cognitive Achievement," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(9), pages 1082-1100, September.
    8. Lu, Yu-Lung & Chou, Stephen Jui-Hsien & Lin, Eric S., 2014. "Gender differences in the impact of weight status on academic performance: Evidence from adolescents in Taiwan," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 300-314.
    9. Averett, Susan L. & Fletcher, Erin K., 2015. "The Relationship between Maternal Pre-Pregnancy BMI and Preschool Obesity," IZA Discussion Papers 9608, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Rangvid, Beatrice Schindler, 2015. "Systematic differences across evaluation schemes and educational choice," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 41-55.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Childhood overweight; Obesity; Underweight; Test scores; Grades;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I19 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Other
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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