Air Pollution Control and Residents' Weight: Empirical Evidence From China's Action Plan

Air pollution is a significant environmental issue with widespread impacts on public health. Evidence on the causal effect of air pollution control policies on weight-related outcomes remains limited. This study fills this gap by leveraging the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan as a quasi-natural experiment, combining four waves (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) of panel data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Employing a difference-in-differences framework, we find that implementing this policy significantly reduces overweight risk among residents. Mechanism analyses indicate that the policy primarily lowers overweight risk by increasing physical exercise frequency and alleviating depressive symptoms. Further heterogeneity analyses show this impact is particularly pronounced among urban residents, young adults, females, and individuals with lower educational attainment. Our findings clarify the causal link between environmental regulation and population health, and provide actionable insights for policymakers to design coordinated interventions that leverage air quality improvements to advance public health goals.