TY - JOUR
T1 - Is being in school better? The impact of school on children's BMI when starting age is endogenous
AU - Anderson, Patricia M.
AU - Butcher, Kristin F.
AU - Cascio, Elizabeth U.
AU - Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial support from the USDA through the RIDGE Grant Program and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Healthy Eating Research Program (Award #57922) is gratefully acknowledged. We also thank Kosali Simon, Tom DeLeire and seminar participants at Indiana University, the University of Florida, CIE-ITAM, and the American Economic Association Annual Meetings for helpful comments.
PY - 2011/9
Y1 - 2011/9
N2 - In this paper, we investigate the impact of attending school on body weight and obesity using a regression-discontinuity design. As is the case with academic outcomes, school exposure is related to unobserved determinants of weight outcomes because some families choose to have their child start school late (or early). If one does not account for this endogeneity, it appears that an additional year of school exposure results in a greater BMI and a higher probability of being overweight or obese. When we compare the weight outcomes of similar age children with one versus two years of school exposure due to regulations on school starting age, the significant positive effects disappear, and most point estimates become negative, but insignificant. However, additional school exposure appears to improve weight outcomes of children for whom the transition to elementary school represents a more dramatic change in environment (those who spent less time in childcare prior to kindergarten).
AB - In this paper, we investigate the impact of attending school on body weight and obesity using a regression-discontinuity design. As is the case with academic outcomes, school exposure is related to unobserved determinants of weight outcomes because some families choose to have their child start school late (or early). If one does not account for this endogeneity, it appears that an additional year of school exposure results in a greater BMI and a higher probability of being overweight or obese. When we compare the weight outcomes of similar age children with one versus two years of school exposure due to regulations on school starting age, the significant positive effects disappear, and most point estimates become negative, but insignificant. However, additional school exposure appears to improve weight outcomes of children for whom the transition to elementary school represents a more dramatic change in environment (those who spent less time in childcare prior to kindergarten).
KW - Childhood obesity
KW - School health policies
KW - School starting age
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.06.002
DO - 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.06.002
M3 - Article
C2 - 21733588
AN - SCOPUS:80052848741
SN - 0167-6296
VL - 30
SP - 977
EP - 986
JO - Journal of Health Economics
JF - Journal of Health Economics
IS - 5
ER -
