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Why are educated adults slim-Causation or selection?

Paul T von Hippel1, Jamie L Lynch2

  • 1LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, 2315 Red River, Box Y, Austin, TX78712, USA.

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Higher body mass index (BMI) in adolescence is linked to lower educational attainment, primarily due to socioeconomic factors. While education offers some BMI benefits, selection effects largely explain the education-BMI gradient in young adults.

Keywords:
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Area of Science:

  • Sociology
  • Public Health
  • Education

Background:

  • Adults with higher education levels generally exhibit lower body mass index (BMI) and reduced risk of overweight/obesity.
  • This observed education gradient in BMI is attributed to two main hypotheses: selection and causation.
  • Selection posits that individuals with higher BMI are less likely to pursue higher education.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relative contributions of selection and causation to the education gradient in BMI.
  • To analyze the pathways through which BMI influences educational attainment and vice versa.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 cohort (NLSY97), tracking BMI from adolescence to young adulthood.
  • Employed ordinal regression models to assess the selection hypothesis.
  • Applied fixed-effects models to control for selection and evaluate the causal impact of education on BMI.

Main Results:

  • Ordinal regression confirmed that adolescents with higher BMI are less likely to complete higher education, with links to socioeconomic disadvantage, lower academic performance, and, for girls, bullying, poor health, and early pregnancy.
  • Fixed-effects models indicated that while education has a significant causal effect on BMI, it explains only about 25% of the BMI difference between more and less educated adults at age 29.
  • The majority of the education gradient in BMI among young adults appears to be driven by selection processes.

Conclusions:

  • Selection, where higher BMI in adolescence hinders educational attainment, is the primary driver of the education-BMI gradient in young adulthood.
  • While education confers some benefits for BMI control, its causal impact is less significant than selection effects.
  • Understanding these selection mechanisms is crucial for addressing health disparities related to education and BMI.