We show that childhood obesity leads to lower intergenerational income and social mobility by adopting an instrumental variable approach based on genetic information related to body weight. We examine the mechanisms that help explain the effects of childhood obesity on intergenerational mobility...

Over the past four decades, paralleling the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity, the share of families with only one child has been rising steadily. Using three waves of the National Survey of Children’s Health, we examine the effect of being the only child in a family on childhood...

Using the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health data,we find a statistically and economically significant effect of neighborhood parks and playgrounds on childhood obesity based on covariate matching estimators. The park/playground effect depends on gender, age, race, household income,...

Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, this paper employs difference-in-difference propensity score matching to examine whether the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) contributes to childhood obesity. We find no statistically significant SNAP effect among the 12- to...

The purpose of this study was to examine the discrepancies between perceived and reported overweight status among U.S. adolescents, and to identify factors contributing to such discrepancies. Using the Youth Risk Behavior and Surveillance Survey data (YRBSS years 2001-2009), we compare perceived...

We find that despite a stronger intention to lose weight, overweight and obese individuals in the United States are less likely to meet the federal recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption, energy and nutrient intakes, and physical activity than are normal-weight individuals. By...