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China's one-child policy and overweight children in the 1990s

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  • Yang, Juhua

Abstract

The prevalence of overweight children in China has increased, and the one-child policy has been suggested as a cause. Drawing on longitudinal data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, this paper investigates the relationship between the one-child policy and overweight among young children. The policy is measured directly as local variations and indirectly as sibship composition (i.e., number of siblings, birth order and birth interval). Results suggest that overweight among preschoolers and primary school children increased in the 1990s at a slower pace than that documented in previous studies in China, and the prevalence of overweight varies by age of children and urban residence. However, while there are substantially gross differences in overweight by policy variations and sibsize (i.e., number of siblings), single children and those in strict one-child policy communities do not differ from other children, after adjusting for household and community characteristics. Thus, the policy does not seem to bear an independent relationship to child overweight risk. Hence, this analysis provides little to support the public perception that the one-child policy is associated with the rising epidemic of child overweight in transitional China. Rather the risk associated with overweight include age of children, parental body mass index (BMI), level of maternal education, local socioeconomic development, urban residence and province/region.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Juhua, 2007. "China's one-child policy and overweight children in the 1990s," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(10), pages 2043-2057, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:64:y:2007:i:10:p:2043-2057
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Doherty, Jim P. & Norton, Edward C. & Veney, James E., 2001. "China's one-child policy: the economic choices and consequences faced by pregnant women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(5), pages 745-761, March.
    2. Du, Shufa & Mroz, Tom A. & Zhai, Fengying & Popkin, Barry M., 2004. "Rapid income growth adversely affects diet quality in China--particularly for the poor!," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(7), pages 1505-1515, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Goode, Alison & Mavromaras, Kostas & zhu, Rong, 2014. "Family income and child health in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 152-165.
    2. Matthieu Clément & Céline Bonnefond, 2014. "Does social class affect nutrition knowledge and food preferences among Chinese urban adults?," Post-Print hal-02147996, HAL.
    3. Liu, Hong & Fang, Hai & Zhao, Zhong, 2013. "Urban–rural disparities of child health and nutritional status in China from 1989 to 2006," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 294-309.
    4. Liang, Yun & Gibson, John, 2018. "Do siblings take your food away? Using China's one-child policy to test for child quantity-quality trade-offs," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 14-26.
    5. Matthieu Clément & Céline Bonnefond, 2014. "Does social class affect nutrition knowledge and food preferences among Chinese urban adults?," Post-Print hal-02147996, HAL.

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