Abstract
We provide new evidence on the long-run labor market penalty of teenage overweight and obesity using unique and large-scale data on 150,000 male siblings from the Swedish military enlistment. Our empirical analysis provides four important results. First, we provide the first evidence of a large adult male labor market penalty for being overweight or obese as a teenager. Second, we replicate this result using data from the United States and the United Kingdom. Third, we note a strikingly strong within-family relationship between body size and cognitive skills/noncognitive skills. Fourth, a large part of the estimated body-size penalty reflects lower skill acquisition among overweight and obese teenagers. Taken together, these results reinforce the importance of policy combating early-life obesity in order to reduce healthcare expenditures as well as poverty and inequalities later in life.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1573-1596 |
Journal | Demography |
Volume | 51 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy
Free keywords
- Obesity
- Overweight
- Discrimination
- Earnings
- Skills