A Longitudinal Analysis of Fast-Food Exposure On Child Weight Outcomes: Identifying Causality Through School Transitions

Richard Dunn, Rodolfo Nayga, Michael Thomsen and Heather L. Rouse

No 290100, Working Paper series from University of Connecticut, Charles J. Zwick Center for Food and Resource Policy

Abstract: This paper employs a novel identification strategy based on changes in the route students would use to commute between their home and their school as they transition to higher grades housed in different schools to investigate the effect of fast-food availability on childhood weight outcomes by gender, race and location. Using a longitudinal census of height and weight for public school students in Arkansas, we find no evidence that changes in fast-food exposure are associated with changes in BMI z-score. Our findings suggest that laws restricting fast-food restaurants from areas near schools are neither effective nor efficient means of improving public health.

Keywords: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Labor and Human Capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43
Date: 2014-09
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Related works:
Working Paper: A Longitudinal Analysis of Fast-Food Exposure On Child Weight Outcomes: Identifying Causality Through School Transitions (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:ucozwp:290100

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.290100

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