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Title: Working Yourself to Death? The Relationship Between Work Hours and Obesity
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Courtemanche, Charles |
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Working Yourself to Death? The Relationship Between Work Hours and Obesity Working Paper, Department of Economics, Washington University - St. Louis, March 19, 2007 Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Publisher: Department of Economics, Washington University - St. Louis Keyword(s): Body Mass Index (BMI); Child Health; Maternal Employment; Obesity; Weight; Work Hours/Schedule Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. I attempt to determine if the rise in labor force participation in the U.S. in the past half-century may have contributed to the nations growing obesity rate by examining the relationship between work hours and body weight. A causal relationship is possible since increased work hours may reduce exercise and cause substitution from meals prepared at home to fast food and pre-prepared processed food. Additional work by adults may also affect child weight by reducing parental supervision. Using panel data obtained from the 1979 cohort of the NLSY and the NLSY Child Supplement, I examine the effects of a change in adults' work hours on their own weight and that of their spouses and children. I find that a rise in work hours increases ones weight and, to a lesser extent, the weight of ones spouse. Mothers' but not fathers' work hours affect the weight of children and adolescents. I estimate that changes in employment patterns account for 6% of the rise in adult obesity between 1961 and 2004 and 10% of the increase in overweight children from 1968 to 2001. |
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Bibliography Citation
Courtemanche, Charles. "Working Yourself to Death? The Relationship Between Work Hours and Obesity." Working Paper, Department of Economics, Washington University - St. Louis, March 19, 2007. |