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The long-run effect of education on obesity in the US

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  • Kim, Young-Joo

Abstract

The proportion of obese population has been gradually increasing in the US over the past few decades. In this study I investigate how education is associated with Body Mass Index (BMI) in later stages of life. BMI, weight(kg)/height(m)2, is the principle measure used for classifying people as obese. Using sibling data and methods that take account of unobserved endowments and environment shared by siblings, I find that there is large variation in BMI between siblings and that education is negatively associated with BMI. One more year of schooling is associated with an estimated reduction of 0.15 in BMI. When considering different education levels, completing college education is associated with 0.7 reduction in BMI relative to high school graduation only. The significant effect of education on obesity that remains in the long-run has policy implications.

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  • Kim, Young-Joo, 2016. "The long-run effect of education on obesity in the US," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 100-109.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:21:y:2016:i:c:p:100-109
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2015.12.003
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    Cited by:

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    2. Kim, Young-Joo & Daly, Vincent, 2019. "The Education Gradient in Health: The Case of Obesity in the UK and US," Economics Discussion Papers 2019-4, School of Economics, Kingston University London.
    3. Black, Sandra E. & Devereux, Paul J. & Salvanes, Kjell G., 2016. "Healthy(?), wealthy, and wise: Birth order and adult health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 27-45.
    4. Raftopoulou, Athina, 2017. "Geographic determinants of individual obesity risk in Spain: A multilevel approach," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 185-193.
    5. Chen, Yuanyuan & Wang, Haining & Cheng, Zhiming & Smyth, Russell, 2023. "Education and Migrant Health in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    6. Ritter, Patricia I., 2023. "Soda expansion in the tropics: The effect on obesity rates among women without piped water at home," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    7. Dolton, Peter & Xiao, Mimi, 2017. "The intergenerational transmission of body mass index across countries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 140-152.
    8. Raquel Fonseca & Pierre-Carl Michaud & Yuhui Zheng, 2020. "The effect of education on health: evidence from national compulsory schooling reforms," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 83-103, March.
    9. Duncan, Roberto & Toledo, Patricia, 2019. "Inequality in body mass indices across countries: Evidence from convergence tests," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 40-57.
    10. Salmasi, Luca & Celidoni, Martina, 2017. "Investigating the poverty-obesity paradox in Europe," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 70-85.
    11. Ma, Yuanyuan & Nolan, Anne & Smith, James P., 2018. "The value of education to health: Evidence from Ireland," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 14-25.
    12. Weidong Li & Shuzhuo Li & Marcus W. Feldman, 2021. "Socioeconomic Status, Institutional Power, and Body Mass Index among Chinese Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-19, October.
    13. Dursun, Bahadır & Cesur, Resul & Mocan, Naci, 2018. "The Impact of Education on Health Outcomes and Behaviors in a Middle-Income, Low-Education Country," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 94-114.
    14. He, Qinying & Li, Xun & Wang, Rui, 2018. "Childhood obesity in China: Does grandparents’ coresidence matter?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 56-63.
    15. Nandi, Arindam & Haberland, Nicole & Ngo, Thoai D., 2023. "The impact of primary schooling expansion on adult educational attainment, literacy, and health: Evidence from India’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    16. Young-Joo Kim, 2020. "Born to be more educated? Birth order and schooling," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 165-180, March.

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