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...

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...