Effects of Weight on Children's Educational Achievement

36 Pages Posted: 30 Jan 2008 Last revised: 12 Aug 2022

See all articles by Robert Kaestner

Robert Kaestner

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); University of Chicago - Harris School of Public Policy

Michael Grossman

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), NY Office; CUNY The Graduate Center - Department of Economics

Date Written: January 2008

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the association between weight and children's educational achievement, as measured by scores on Peabody Individual Achievement Tests in math and reading, and grade attainment. Data for the study came from the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), which contains a large, national sample of children between the ages of 5 and 12. We obtained estimates of the association between weight and achievement using several regression model specifications that controlled for a variety of observed characteristics of the child and his or her mother, and time-invariant characteristics of the child. Our results suggest that, in general, children who are overweight or obese have achievement test scores that are about the same as children with average weight.

Suggested Citation

Kaestner, Robert and Kaestner, Robert and Grossman, Michael, Effects of Weight on Children's Educational Achievement (January 2008). NBER Working Paper No. w13764, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1088679

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Michael Grossman

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