Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/111503 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 9051
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This study analyzes peer effects on childhood obesity using data from the first two waves of the IDEFICS study, which applies several anthropometric and other measures of fatness to approximately 14,000 children aged two to nine participating in both waves in 16 regions of eight European countries. Peers are defined as same-sex children in the same school and age group. The results show that peer effects do exist in this European sample but that they differ among both regions and different fatness measures. Peer effects are larger in Spain, Italy, and Cyprus – the more collectivist regions in our sample – while waist circumference generally gives rise to larger peer effects than BMI. We also provide evidence that parental misperceptions of their own children's weight goes hand in hand with fatter peer groups, supporting the notion that in making such assessments, parents compare their children's weight with that of friends and schoolmates.
Subjects: 
peer effects
children
obesity
Europe
JEL: 
I12
J13
J22
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
345.69 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.