The relationship between neighborhood quality and obesity among children / Bisakha Sen, Stephen Mennemeyer, Lisa C. Gary.
Material type: TextSeries: Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research) ; no. 14985.Publication details: Cambridge, Mass. : National Bureau of Economic Research, 2009Description: 24, [13] p. : ill. ; 22 cmSubject(s): Obesity in children -- Econometric models | Public safety -- Health aspects | Neighborhoods -- Health aspects | Minorities -- Health and hygiene -- Social aspectsLOC classification: HB1 | .N38 no. 14985Online resources: Click here to access online Summary: It has long been posited by scientists that we need to have a better understanding in the role that larger contextual factors - like neighborhood quality and the built environment - may have on the nation's obesity crisis. This paper explores whether maternal perceptions of neighborhood quality affect children's bodyweight outcomes, and whether racial and ethnic differences in such perceptions may explain any of the hitherto unexplained gap in bodyweight and obesity prevalence among Whites and minorities. The project uses data from the NLSY79 and the CoNLSY datasets. Results indicate that overall neighborhood quality is not significantly related to children's bodyweight. However, one particular characteristic, namely whether or not the mother believes there is enough police protection in the neighborhood, is related. Lack of police protection has robust and significant effects on the BMI-percentile of the children, though it has less robust effects on the risk of becoming obese per se. Finally, there are differences in perceptions about adequate police protection in their neighborhood between Whites and minorities which remain after controlling for other socio-economic characteristics like maternal education, family income and family structure. However, these differences play a minor role in explaining part of the gap in bodyweight between White and minority children.Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode |
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Book | University of Macedonia Library Βιβλιοστάσιο Β (Stack Room B) | Research Papers | HB1.N38 no. 14985 (Browse shelf (Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 0013125497 |
Includes bibliographical references.
It has long been posited by scientists that we need to have a better understanding in the role that larger contextual factors - like neighborhood quality and the built environment - may have on the nation's obesity crisis. This paper explores whether maternal perceptions of neighborhood quality affect children's bodyweight outcomes, and whether racial and ethnic differences in such perceptions may explain any of the hitherto unexplained gap in bodyweight and obesity prevalence among Whites and minorities. The project uses data from the NLSY79 and the CoNLSY datasets. Results indicate that overall neighborhood quality is not significantly related to children's bodyweight. However, one particular characteristic, namely whether or not the mother believes there is enough police protection in the neighborhood, is related. Lack of police protection has robust and significant effects on the BMI-percentile of the children, though it has less robust effects on the risk of becoming obese per se. Finally, there are differences in perceptions about adequate police protection in their neighborhood between Whites and minorities which remain after controlling for other socio-economic characteristics like maternal education, family income and family structure. However, these differences play a minor role in explaining part of the gap in bodyweight between White and minority children.
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