IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jhecon/v102y2025ics016762962500058x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Heterogeneous peer effects and gender-based interventions for teenage obesity

Author

Listed:
  • Comola, Margherita
  • Dieye, Rokhaya
  • Fortin, Bernard

Abstract

This paper explores the role of gender heterogeneity in the social diffusion of obesity among adolescents and its policy implications. We propose a social interaction model which allows for gender-dependent heterogeneity in peer effects. Our empirical approach is consistent with the best response functions of a non-cooperative model where social interactions stem from the channel of pure spillover or pure conformity. We estimate the model using data on adolescent Body Mass Index and network-based interactions. Our approach allows us to account for network endogeneity. Our results show that peer effects are gender-dependent, and male students are particularly responsive to the weight of their female friends. According to simulations, reaching out to women results in an 8% increase in effectiveness in reducing overall BMI, based on the most conservative scenario. Thus, female-tailored interventions are likely to be more effective than a gender-neutral approach to fighting obesity in schools.

Suggested Citation

  • Comola, Margherita & Dieye, Rokhaya & Fortin, Bernard, 2025. "Heterogeneous peer effects and gender-based interventions for teenage obesity," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:102:y:2025:i:c:s016762962500058x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2025.103023
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016762962500058X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2025.103023?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Obesity; Social Networks; Gender; Heterogeneity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L12 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Monopoly; Monopolization Strategies
    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:102:y:2025:i:c:s016762962500058x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505560 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.