This paper tests whether prices of soda, fruit drinks, and other selected foods influence children’s BMI measures. Child and household data are drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey, Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K), which is merged with market prices available from the Quarterly Food...

This essay investigates the impacts of primary care giver’s (PCG) time allocation and food expenditure choices on childhood obesity using national panel study of income dynamic (PSID) data. A triangular system of equations is derived and estimated under parametric and semi-parametric model...

Internet marketing has gained attention as a new medium to advertise food products to children. This study examines the prevalence of food marketing during children's television programs that are available on the internet. While food is the largest product category advertised, commercials make...

Childhood obesity rates are rapidly rising in many countries. Since it is highly likely that obesity will persist into adulthood, current rates undermine the health and future of people in developed as well as developing countries. This public health epidemic carries significant economic, social...

In this paper we examine the effect of dollar stores on children's Body Mass Index (BMI). We use a dataset compiled by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement which created and implemented the BMI screening process for all public school children in the state of Arkansas. We combine propensity...

This study investigates whether peers are a contributing factor in childhood body-weight outcomes. Using an instrumental variables method on exogenously assigned peers, we find that the weight of peers within the same grade and school significantly impacts body mass index (BMI) z-score of an...

Using data from an Alachua County, Florida elementary school, we analyze how intermittently offered à la carte items, such as ice cream and other desserts, affect the selection of more healthful National School Lunch Program (NSLP) lunch components (fruits and low-fat dairy). We find NSLP...

We examine the effect of proximity to large grocery stores and convenience stores on consumption of different food groups among a sample of children enrolled in Head Start preschools. Food store proximity is measured in two ways: (1) as the distance from the census block of residence to the...

Using five waves from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), we investigate the association between maternal employment and obesity in children aged 3–17 in both rural and urban China. Using BMI and waist circumference as measures for pediatric adiposity, we provide scant evidence for...

This report from the field describes the design, implementation, and early evaluation results of the Healthy Weight Collaborative, a federally supported learning collaborative to develop, test, and disseminate an integrated change package of six promising, evidence-based clinical and...