Overweight and human capital

Overweight and obesity is rising almost all over the world, spurring a research agenda focused in understanding its causes, consequences and the best public policies to deal with the problem. In particular, there has been substantial research that documents that in developed countries obesity tends to be associated to worse labor market outcomes, such as lower wages or earnings, less wealth and lower probability of employment. While there are many reasons that may explain the relationship between obesity and labor market outcomes, such as discrimination in the job, one possible reason is that overweight workers did not acquired enough human capital when they where overweight students. Studies from diverse disciplines, such as medicine and psychology, suggest that overweight and obesity can lead to worse or better academic outcomes. Unfortunately, the few number statistical studies on the topic do not allow us to reach a conclusion. The lack of evidence is unfortunate since there may be public actions not yet identified needed to deal with overweight and obese students. This is an area where more studies are needed. Researchers at the CISS have written a paper in this topic. If you would like a copy please contact nelly.aguilera@ciss.org.mx