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

Richard Dunn, Rodolfo Nayga, Michael Thomsen () and Heather Rouse ()
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Michael Thomsen: University of Arkansas
Heather Rouse: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

No 34, Working Papers from University of Connecticut, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 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: Fast-food; childhood obesity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 R12 R40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2014-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-edu, nep-hea and nep-ure
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Working Paper: A Longitudinal Analysis of Fast-Food Exposure On Child Weight Outcomes: Identifying Causality Through School Transitions (2014)
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