The Impact of State Physical Education Requirements on Youth Physical Activity and Overweight

31 Pages Posted: 6 Jul 2005 Last revised: 7 Sep 2022

See all articles by John Cawley

John Cawley

Cornell University - College of Human Ecology, Department of Policy Analysis & Management (PAM); Cornell University - College of Arts & Sciences, Department of Economics; Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE); University of Galway - J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics; NBER; IZA

Chad D. Meyerhoefer

Lehigh University

David Locke Newhouse

World Bank

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: June 2005

Abstract

To combat childhood overweight, which has risen dramatically in the past three decades, many medical and public health organizations have called for students to spend more time in physical education (PE) classes. This paper is the first to exploit state PE requirements as quasi-natural experiments in order to estimate the causal impact of PE on student activity and weight. We study nationwide data from the YRBSS for 1999, 2001, and 2003 merged with data on state minimum PE requirements from the 1994 and 2000 School Health Policies and Programs Study and the 2001 Shape of the Nation Report.

We find that certain state regulations are effective in raising the number of minutes during which students are active in PE. Our results also indicate that additional PE time raises the number of days per week that students report having exercised or engaged in strength-building activities, but lowers the number of days in which students report light physical activity. PE time has no detectable impact on youth BMI or the probability that a student is overweight. We conclude that while raising PE requirements may make students more active by some (but not all) measures, there is not yet the scientific base to declare raising PE requirements an anti-obesity initiative.

Suggested Citation

Cawley, John and Meyerhoefer, Chad D. and Newhouse, David Locke, The Impact of State Physical Education Requirements on Youth Physical Activity and Overweight (June 2005). NBER Working Paper No. w11411, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=741559

John Cawley (Contact Author)

Cornell University - College of Human Ecology, Department of Policy Analysis & Management (PAM) ( email )

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Chad D. Meyerhoefer

Lehigh University ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www3.lehigh.edu/business/faculty/meyerhoefer.asp

David Locke Newhouse

World Bank ( email )

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