Eating Behavior and Social Interactions from Adolescence to Adulthood
Publikation: Working paper › Forskning
This paper analyzes the importance of social ties for eating behavior of US youth.
We propose a novel approach that addresses identi…cation of social endogenous
e¤ects. We overcome the problem of measuring the separate impact of endogenous
and contextual e¤ects on individual Body Mass Index (BMI) in a dynamic linear-
in-means model, where individual- and group-speci…c unobservable e¤ects are
controlled for. We show that the main drivers of eating behavior are habituation and
imitation e¤ects. Imitation e¤ects explain most of the variation in BMI of individuals
who were normal-weight and overweight during adolescence. Obese adolescents,
instead, become future obese adults through wrong habits enforced by imitative
behavior.
We propose a novel approach that addresses identi…cation of social endogenous
e¤ects. We overcome the problem of measuring the separate impact of endogenous
and contextual e¤ects on individual Body Mass Index (BMI) in a dynamic linear-
in-means model, where individual- and group-speci…c unobservable e¤ects are
controlled for. We show that the main drivers of eating behavior are habituation and
imitation e¤ects. Imitation e¤ects explain most of the variation in BMI of individuals
who were normal-weight and overweight during adolescence. Obese adolescents,
instead, become future obese adults through wrong habits enforced by imitative
behavior.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
---|---|
Udgiver | Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen |
Antal sider | 39 |
Status | Udgivet - 2012 |
Bibliografisk note
JEL Classification: D10, D71, I19, J11, Z13
ID: 38556930