 Heterogeneous peer effects and gender-based interventions for teenage obesityMargherita Comola, Rokhaya Dieye and Bernard Fortin Journal of Health Economics, 2025, vol. 102, issue C Abstract: This paper explores the role of gender heterogeneity in the social diffusion of obesity among adolescents and its policy implications. We propose a social interaction model which allows for gender-dependent heterogeneity in peer effects. Our empirical approach is consistent with the best response functions of a non-cooperative model where social interactions stem from the channel of pure spillover or pure conformity. We estimate the model using data on adolescent Body Mass Index and network-based interactions. Our approach allows us to account for network endogeneity. Our results show that peer effects are gender-dependent, and male students are particularly responsive to the weight of their female friends. According to simulations, reaching out to women results in an 8% increase in effectiveness in reducing overall BMI, based on the most conservative scenario. Thus, female-tailored interventions are likely to be more effective than a gender-neutral approach to fighting obesity in schools. Keywords: Obesity; Social Networks; Gender; Heterogeneity (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:102:y:2025:i:c:s016762962500058x DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2025.103023 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Health Economics is currently edited by J. P. Newhouse, A. J. Culyer, R. Frank, K. Claxton and T. McGuire More articles in Journal of Health Economics from Elsevier |
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