Search Results
Title: Does Walking or Riding a Bike to School Reduce Obesity? Evidence from the NLSY 1979 using Propensity Score Matching
Resulting in 1 citation.
| 1. |
Zakir, Hussain Zietz, Joachim |
|
Does Walking or Riding a Bike to School Reduce Obesity? Evidence from the NLSY 1979 using Propensity Score Matching Presented: St. Louis MO, Midwest Economics Association Annual Meeting, March 18-20, 2011 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: Midwest Economics Association Keyword(s): Body Mass Index (BMI); Commuting/Type, Time, Method; Exercise; Obesity; Physical Activity (see also Exercise); Propensity Scores; Transportation Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. This presentation assesses whether walking or riding a bike to school reduces obesity. High school and college students who walk or ride a bike to school are compared to those students who could have walked or ridden a bike to school but did not. The analysis employs Propensity Score Matching (PSM). This methodology enables comparison between two otherwise very similar groups which vary only on the basis of one characteristic, in this case, walking or biking to school. The likelihood of an individual’s decision to walk or bike to school, the propensity score, is determined on the basis of several observable characteristics which are available in the data. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) 1979 cohort, a nationally representative survey, I find statistically significant evidence that students who walk or ride a bike to school have lower levels of BMI and obesity and are less overweight than those in the control group. When college students are included in the sample, the effect continues to remain consistent and statistically significant. |
|
|
Bibliography Citation
Zakir, Hussain and Joachim Zietz. "Does Walking or Riding a Bike to School Reduce Obesity? Evidence from the NLSY 1979 using Propensity Score Matching." Presented: St. Louis MO, Midwest Economics Association Annual Meeting, March 18-20, 2011. |