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Effects of Weight on Adolescent Educational Attainment

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  • Robert Kaestner
  • Michael Grossman
  • Benjamin Yarnoff

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the association between weight and adolescent's educational attainment, as measured by highest grade attended, highest grade completed, and drop out status. Data for the study came from the 1997 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), which contains a large, national sample of teens between the ages of 14 and 18. We obtained estimates of the association between weight and educational attainment using several regression model specifications that controlled for a variety of observed characteristics. Our results suggest that, in general, teens that are overweight or obese have levels of attainment that are about the same as teens with average weight.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Kaestner & Michael Grossman & Benjamin Yarnoff, 2009. "Effects of Weight on Adolescent Educational Attainment," NBER Working Papers 14994, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14994
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    Cited by:

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    2. Donna Gilleskie & Euna Han & Edward Norton, 2017. "Disentangling the Contemporaneous and Dynamic Effects of Human and Health Capital on Wages over the Life Cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 25, pages 350-383, April.
    3. Cavaco, Sandra & Eriksson, Tor & Skalli, Ali, 2014. "Life cycle development of obesity and its determinants in six European countries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 14(C), pages 62-78.
    4. BARONE, Adriana & NESE, Annamaria, 2017. "Investment in Education, Obesity and Health Behaviours," CELPE Discussion Papers 146, CELPE - CEnter for Labor and Political Economics, University of Salerno, Italy.
    5. Kranjac, Ashley Wendell, 2015. "The moderating effect of self-efficacy on normal-weight, overweight, and obese children's math achievement: A longitudinal analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 168-177.
    6. Tami Gurley-Calvez & Amy Higginbotham, 2010. "Childhood Obesity, Academic Achievement, and School Expenditures," Public Finance Review, , vol. 38(5), pages 619-646, September.
    7. Han, Euna & Norton, Edward C. & Powell, Lisa M., 2011. "Direct and indirect effects of body weight on adult wages," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 381-392.
    8. Amelia R. Branigan & Jonas Helgertz, 2017. "Resolved Parental Infertility and Children’s Educational Achievement," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(3), pages 911-931, June.
    9. Barone, Adriana & Nese, Annamaria, 2015. "Body Weight and Gender: Academic Choice and Performance," MPRA Paper 68450, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Andrew Sharpe & Alexander Murray, 2011. "State of the Evidence on Health as a Determinant of Productivity," CSLS Research Reports 2011-04, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    11. BARONE, Adriana & NESE, Annamaria, 2014. "Body Weight and Academic Performance: Gender and Peer Effects," CELPE Discussion Papers 129, CELPE - CEnter for Labor and Political Economics, University of Salerno, Italy.
    12. Cavaco, Sandra & Eriksson, Tor & Skalli, Ali, 2011. "Life Cycle Development of Obesity and Its Determinants," Working Papers 11-7, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Economics.
    13. Kelly, Inas R. & Doytch, Nadia & Dave, Dhaval, 2019. "How does body mass index affect economic growth? A comparative analysis of countries by levels of economic development," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 58-73.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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