This paper investigates the effect of only children on childhood obesity in China. We use implementation measures of family planning policies as instrumental variables in the estimations, and find that being raised in a one-child family significantly increases the weight, body mass index, and probability of being overweight or obese for children. By examining mothers' care-taking behaviors and their children's dietary habits and nutritional intake, we identify the following channels linking one-child families with childhood obesity. (a) In one-child families, parents prefer spending money to using their time to care for their children. (b) In one-child families, children eat more high-sugar, high-fat, and high-protein food. A time–money trade-off could be a plausible mechanism of the effects we document.

 

Key words:

One-child policy; Time–money trade-off; Obesity; Childhood; Overweight

 

Reference:

Zhang, J., Xu, P., & Liu, F. One-child Policy and Childhood Obesity. China Economic Review. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2016.05.03 

 

Link:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2016.05.003

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