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Source: Forum for Health Economics and Policy
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. Cesur, Resul
Kelly, Inas Rashad
From Cradle to Classroom: High Birth Weight and Cognitive Outcomes
Forum for Health Economics and Policy 13,2 (2010): Article 2 .
Also: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/fhep.2010.13.2/fhep.2010.13.2.1189/fhep.2010.13.2.1189.xml?format=INT
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
Keyword(s): Birthweight; Body Mass Index (BMI); Breastfeeding; Cognitive Development; Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-B, ECLS-K); Obesity; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

While the effects of low birth weight have long been explored, the literature on the effects of high birth weight is sparse. However, with increasing obesity rates in the United States, high birth weight has become a potential concern, and has been associated in the medical literature with an increased likelihood of becoming an overweight child, adolescent, and subsequently an obese adult. Overweight and obesity, in turn, are associated with a host of negative effects, including lower test scores in school and lower labor market prospects when adults. If studies only focus on low birth weight, they may underestimate the effects of ensuring that mothers receive adequate support during pregnancy. This study finds that cognitive outcomes are adversely affected not only by low birth weight (<2500 grams) but also by high birth weight (>4500 grams). Our results have policy implications in terms of provision of support for pregnant women.
Bibliography Citation
Cesur, Resul and Inas Rashad Kelly. "From Cradle to Classroom: High Birth Weight and Cognitive Outcomes." Forum for Health Economics and Policy 13,2 (2010): Article 2 .
2. Courtemanche, Charles
Longer Hours and Larger Waistlines? The Relationship Between Work Hours and Obesity
Forum for Health Economics and Policy 12,2 (May 2009): DOI: 10.2202/1558-9544.1123.
Also: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/fhep.2009.12.2/fhep.2009.12.2.1123/fhep.2009.12.2.1123.xml?format=INT
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
Keyword(s): Body Mass Index (BMI); Child Health; Maternal Employment; Obesity; Parental Influences; Weight; Work Hours/Schedule

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Additional work hours may lead to weight gain by decreasing exercise, causing substitution from meals prepared at home to fast food and pre-prepared processed food, or reducing sleep. Substitution toward unhealthy convenience foods could also influence the weight of one's spouse and children, while longer work hours for adults may further impact child weight by reducing parental supervision. I examine the effects of adult work hours on the body mass index (BMI) and obesity status of adults as well as the overweight status of children. Longer hours increase one's own BMI and probability of being obese, but have a smaller and statistically insignificant effect on these outcomes for one's spouse. Mothers', but not mother's spouse's, work hours affect children's probability of being overweight. My estimates imply that changes in labor force participation account for only 1.4% of the rise in adult obesity in recent decades, but a more substantial 10.4% of the growth in childhood overweight.
Bibliography Citation
Courtemanche, Charles. "Longer Hours and Larger Waistlines? The Relationship Between Work Hours and Obesity." Forum for Health Economics and Policy 12,2 (May 2009): DOI: 10.2202/1558-9544.1123.
3. Smith, Trenton G.
Stoddard, Christiana
Barnes, Michael G.
Why the Poor Get Fat: Weight Gain and Economic Insecurity
Forum for Health Economics and Policy 12,2 (December 2009): 1-29. Advance on-line publication by Berkeley Electronic Press.
Also: http://www.bepress.com/fhep/12/2/5/
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Berkeley Electronic Press (bpress)
Keyword(s): Income; Income Level; Income Risk; Insurance, Health; Obesity; Poverty; Weight

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Something about being poor makes people fat. Though there are many possible explanations for the income-body weight gradient, we investigate a promising but little-studied hypothesis: that changes in body weight can-at least in part-be explained as an optimal response to economic insecurity. We use data on working-age men from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) to identify the effects of various measures of economic insecurity on weight gain. We find in particular that over the 12-year period between 1988 and 2000, the average man gained about 21 pounds. A one percentage point (0.01) increase in the probability of becoming unemployed causes weight gain over this period to increase by about 0.6 pounds, and each realized 50% drop in annual income results in an increase of about 5 pounds. The mechanism also appears to work in reverse, with health insurance and intrafamily transfers protecting against weight gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Bibliography Citation
Smith, Trenton G., Christiana Stoddard and Michael G. Barnes. "Why the Poor Get Fat: Weight Gain and Economic Insecurity." Forum for Health Economics and Policy 12,2 (December 2009): 1-29. Advance on-line publication by Berkeley Electronic Press.