John DiNardo hates Freakonomics

Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner is an extremely popular book that has made economics a (somewhat) sexy topic of discussion. Levitt’s research makes economics exciting and his quirky, controversial studies make interesting reading. John DiNardo, however, thinks that even Freakonomics is “interesting” and “entertaining,” it may not be revealing truths. Dr. DiNardo…

Marital Status and Body Weight Changes

Why do people want to lose weight? While this seems like an obvious question, it does merit answering. There are two major reasons: health concerns and appearance. Being obese increases the risk of suffering from many diseases (e.g.: diabetes). On the appearance side, individuals may experience social pressure to lose (or possibly gain) weight. Further,…

PE Requirements and Overweight Youth

Do state physical education (PE) requirement help to decrease the percentage of children and teens who are overweight? This is the question Cawley, Meyerhoefer and Newhouse investigate in their 2007 Health Economics paper. One would certainly not be surprised if PE requirements decrease the prevalence of obesity, but this may not be correct.  PE requirements…

Maternal Employment and Childhood Obesity

A general result in the obesity literature, is that higher female labor participation rates lead to higher obesity rates in children. For instance, the 1996 Welfare Reform act (PRWORA) increased work requirements for low-income mothers and thus increased labor participation and likely childhood obesity. One question which has not been resolved yet thorough which mechanisms…