IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ehbiol/v18y2015icp41-56.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluating the impact of a school-based health intervention using a randomized field experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Greve, Jane
  • Heinesen, Eskil

Abstract

We conduct an econometric evaluation of a health-promoting programme in primary and lower secondary schools in Denmark. The programme includes health-related measurements of the students, communication of knowledge about health, and support of health-promoting projects for students. Half of the schools in the fourth largest municipality in Denmark were randomly selected into a treatment group implementing the programme, while the remainder served as a control group. We estimate both OLS models using only post-intervention observations and difference in differences (DID) models using also pre-intervention observations. We estimate effects of the initiative on BMI, waist/height ratio, overweight and obesity for the entire sample and by gender and grade. We find no consistent effect of the programme. When we use the entire sample, no estimates are statistically significant at conventional levels, although the point estimates for the effect on BMI, indicating an average reduction in the range of 0.10–0.15kg/m2, are consistent with the results in a recent Cochrane review evaluating 55 studies of diet and exercise interventions targeting children; and DID estimates which are marginally significant (at the 10% level) indicate that the intervention reduces the risk of obesity by 1% point. Running separate estimations by gender and grade we find a few statistically significant estimates: OLS estimates indicate that the intervention reduces BMI in females in grade 5 by 0.39kg/m2 and reduces the risk of obesity in females in grade 9 by 2.6% points; DID estimates indicate an increase in waist for females in preschool class by 1.2cm and an increase in the risk of obesity in grade 9 males by 4% points. However, if we corrected for multiple hypotheses testing these estimates would be insignificant. There is no statistically significant correlation between participation in the programme and the number of other health-promoting projects at the schools.

Suggested Citation

  • Greve, Jane & Heinesen, Eskil, 2015. "Evaluating the impact of a school-based health intervention using a randomized field experiment," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 41-56.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:18:y:2015:i:c:p:41-56
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2015.03.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X15000325
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ehb.2015.03.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. te Velde, Saskia J. & Lennert Veerman, J. & Tak, Nannah I. & Bosmans, Judith E. & Klepp, Knut-Inge & Brug, Johannes, 2011. "Modeling the long term health outcomes and cost-effectiveness of two interventions promoting fruit and vegetable intake among schoolchildren," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 14-22, January.
    2. Vignerova, J. & Blaha, P. & Osancova, K. & Roth, Z., 2004. "Social inequality and obesity in Czech school children," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 107-118, March.
    3. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    4. Forste, Renata & Moore, Erin, 2012. "Adolescent obesity and life satisfaction: Perceptions of self, peers, family, and school," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 385-394.
    5. Karla Hemming & Jen Marsh, 2013. "A menu-driven facility for sample-size calculations in cluster randomized controlled trials," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 13(1), pages 114-135, March.
    6. Burkhauser, Richard V. & Cawley, John, 2008. "Beyond BMI: The value of more accurate measures of fatness and obesity in social science research," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 519-529, March.
    7. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    8. Moodie, Marjory & Haby, Michelle & Wake, Melissa & Gold, Lisa & Carter, Robert, 2008. "Cost-effectiveness of a family-based GP-mediated intervention targeting overweight and moderately obese children," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 363-376, December.
    9. Lin, Biing-Hwan & Smith, Travis A. & Lee, Jonq-Ying & Hall, Kevin D., 2011. "Measuring weight outcomes for obesity intervention strategies: The case of a sugar-sweetened beverage tax," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 329-341.
    10. John Komlos & Ariane Breitfelder & Marco Sunder, 2008. "The Transition to Post-industrial BMI Values Among US Children," NBER Working Papers 13898, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Trogdon, Justin G. & Allaire, Benjamin T., 2014. "The effect of friend selection on social influences in obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 153-164.
    12. Heckman, James J. & Lalonde, Robert J. & Smith, Jeffrey A., 1999. "The economics and econometrics of active labor market programs," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 31, pages 1865-2097, Elsevier.
    13. Karla Hemming & Alan Girling, 2014. "A menu-driven facility for power and detectable-difference calculations in stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trials," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 14(2), pages 363-380, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Boockmann Bernhard & Buch Claudia M. & Schnitzer Monika, 2014. "Evidenzbasierte Wirtschaftspolitik in Deutschland: Defizite und Potentiale," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 15(4), pages 307-323, December.
    2. Cuong NGUYEN, 2016. "An Introduction to Alternative Methods in Program Impact Evaluation," Journal of Economic and Social Thought, KSP Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 349-375, September.
    3. Myoung‐Jae Lee & Young‐Sook Kim, 2014. "Difference In Differences For Stayers With A Time‐Varying Qualification: Health Expenditure Elasticity Of The Elderly," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(9), pages 1134-1145, September.
    4. Lechner, Michael, 2013. "Treatment effects and panel data," Economics Working Paper Series 1314, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    5. Ellison, Richard B. & Ellison, Adrian B. & Greaves, Stephen P. & Sampaio, Breno, 2017. "Electronic ticketing systems as a mechanism for travel behaviour change? Evidence from Sydney’s Opal card," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 80-93.
    6. Dettmann, E. & Becker, C. & Schmeißer, C., 2011. "Distance functions for matching in small samples," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 55(5), pages 1942-1960, May.
    7. Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Zhao, Jun, 2020. "Doubly robust difference-in-differences estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 219(1), pages 101-122.
    8. Valeria Bejarano-Salcedo & William Iván Moreno-Jimenez & Juan Manuel Julio-Román, 2020. "La Magnitud y Duración del Efecto de la Intervención por Subastas sobre el Mercado Cambiario: El caso Colombiano," Borradores de Economia 1142, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    9. Victor Chernozhukov & Iván Fernández‐Val & Blaise Melly, 2013. "Inference on Counterfactual Distributions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(6), pages 2205-2268, November.
    10. Dennis Shen & Peng Ding & Jasjeet Sekhon & Bin Yu, 2022. "Same Root Different Leaves: Time Series and Cross-Sectional Methods in Panel Data," Papers 2207.14481, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2022.
    11. Anita Alves Pena, 2015. "The effect of continuing education participation on outcomes of male and female agricultural workers in the USA," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(6), pages 751-776, December.
    12. Caballero, Julián, 2021. "Corporate dollar debt and depreciations: All’s well that ends well?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    13. Tymon Słoczyński, 2022. "Interpreting OLS Estimands When Treatment Effects Are Heterogeneous: Smaller Groups Get Larger Weights," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(3), pages 501-509, May.
    14. Robert A. HartBy & Mirko Moro & J. Elizabeth Roberts, 2017. "Who gained from the introduction of free universal secondary education in England and Wales?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 69(3), pages 707-733.
    15. Hai-Anh H. Dang & Cuong Viet Nguyen, 2024. "Agricultural Production as a Coping Strategy during the Covid-19 Pandemic? Evidence from Rural Viet Nam," Working Papers DP-2023-23, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    16. Peter Backus & Thien Nguyen, 2021. "The Effect of the Sex Buyer Law on the Market for Sex, Sexual Health and Sexual Violence," Economics Discussion Paper Series 2106, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    17. R. Forrest McCluer & Martha A. Starr, 2013. "Using Difference in Differences to Estimate Damages in Healthcare Antitrust: A Case Study of Marshfield Clinic," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 447-469, November.
    18. Gibbons, Steve & Overman, Henry G. & Patacchini, Eleonora, 2015. "Spatial Methods," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 115-168, Elsevier.
    19. Sloczynski, Tymon, 2018. "A General Weighted Average Representation of the Ordinary and Two-Stage Least Squares Estimands," IZA Discussion Papers 11866, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Dirk Czarnitzki & Cindy Lopes-Bento, 2014. "Innovation Subsidies: Does the Funding Source Matter for Innovation Intensity and Performance? Empirical Evidence from Germany," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(5), pages 380-409, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:18:y:2015:i:c:p:41-56. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622964 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.