4.7 Article

How do peers influence BMI? Evidence from randomly assigned classrooms in South Korea

Journal

SOCIAL SCIENCE & MEDICINE
Volume 197, Issue -, Pages 17-23

Publisher

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.11.032

Keywords

Peer effects; Obesity; Overweight; Social contagion; Health; Adolescents

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Obesity among children is an important public health concern, and social networks may play a role in students' habits that increase the likelihood of being overweight. We examine data from South Korean middle schools, where students are randomly assigned to classrooms, and exploit the variation in peer body mass index. We use the number of peers' siblings as an instrument to account for endogeneity concerns and measurement error. Heavier peers increase the likelihood that a student is heavier; there is no spurious correlation for height, which is unlikely to have peer contagion. Public policy that targets obesity can have spillovers through social networks.

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