TY - UNPB

T1 - Eating Behavior and Social Interactions from Adolescence to Adulthood

AU - Corrado, Luisa

AU - Distante, Roberta

N1 - JEL Classification: D10, D71, I19, J11, Z13

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - This paper analyzes the importance of social ties for eating behavior of US youth. We propose a novel approach that addresses identi…cation of social endogenous e¤ects. We overcome the problem of measuring the separate impact of endogenous and contextual e¤ects on individual Body Mass Index (BMI) in a dynamic linear- in-means model, where individual- and group-speci…c unobservable e¤ects are controlled for. We show that the main drivers of eating behavior are habituation and imitation e¤ects. Imitation e¤ects explain most of the variation in BMI of individuals who were normal-weight and overweight during adolescence. Obese adolescents, instead, become future obese adults through wrong habits enforced by imitative behavior.

AB - This paper analyzes the importance of social ties for eating behavior of US youth. We propose a novel approach that addresses identi…cation of social endogenous e¤ects. We overcome the problem of measuring the separate impact of endogenous and contextual e¤ects on individual Body Mass Index (BMI) in a dynamic linear- in-means model, where individual- and group-speci…c unobservable e¤ects are controlled for. We show that the main drivers of eating behavior are habituation and imitation e¤ects. Imitation e¤ects explain most of the variation in BMI of individuals who were normal-weight and overweight during adolescence. Obese adolescents, instead, become future obese adults through wrong habits enforced by imitative behavior.

M3 - Working paper

BT - Eating Behavior and Social Interactions from Adolescence to Adulthood

PB - Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen

ER -