IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ehbiol/v53y2024ics1570677x24000200.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The relationship between Marriage and Body Mass Index in China：Evidence from the China Health and Nutrition Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Quan, Shiwen
  • Zhang, Huiyun

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of marriage on the body mass index (BMI) of individuals aged 18–45 in China. We used data from ten rounds of the China Health and Nutrition Survey spanning from 1989 to 2015, and applied Difference-in-Differences (DID) model to examine the impact of marriage on BMI. Our findings reveal that marriage has a significant positive effect on BMI, especially among males, with post-marriage elevation of male BMI continuing to increase over time. Moreover, marriage is associated with a 5.2% increase in the prevalence of overweight and a 2.5% rise in the incidence of obesity among males. While energy intake levels for Chinese women did not undergo significant changes after marriage, nor did their energy expenditure levels, men experienced a marked alteration in energy balance, characterized by an increase in caloric intake and a decrease in physical activity. Furthermore, our study confirms significant period differences in the effect of marriage on BMI, with post-marriage elevation of male BMI continuing to rise over time. In contrast, there was no clear trend for female BMI after marriage. Our research highlights the importance of promoting physical fitness and health management within families while fostering intimate relationships through marriage. Public health policies should consider the potential impact of marriage as an intervention window for addressing individuals' weight management needs. Distinct post-marriage body management plans should be designed for both genders.

Suggested Citation

  • Quan, Shiwen & Zhang, Huiyun, 2024. "The relationship between Marriage and Body Mass Index in China：Evidence from the China Health and Nutrition Survey," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:53:y:2024:i:c:s1570677x24000200
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2024.101368
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X24000200
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ehb.2024.101368?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. Clemens Fuest & Andreas Peichl & Sebastian Siegloch, 2018. "Do Higher Corporate Taxes Reduce Wages? Micro Evidence from Germany," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(2), pages 393-418, February.
    2. John Murray, 2000. "Marital protection and marital selection: Evidence from a historical-prospective sample of American men," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 37(4), pages 511-521, November.
    3. Waldron, Ingrid & Hughes, Mary Elizabeth & Brooks, Tracy L., 1996. "Marriage protection and marriage selection--Prospective evidence for reciprocal effects of marital status and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 113-123, July.
    4. Lee Lillard & Constantijn Panis, 1996. "Marital status and mortality: The role of health," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 33(3), pages 313-327, August.
    5. Sobal, Jeffery & Rauschenbach, Barbara & Frongillo, Edward A., 2003. "Marital status changes and body weight changes: a US longitudinal analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(7), pages 1543-1555, April.
    6. Sankar Mukhopadhyay, 2008. "Do women value marriage more? The effect of obesity on cohabitation and marriage in the USA," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 111-126, June.
    7. James Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Jeffrey Smith & Petra Todd, 1998. "Characterizing Selection Bias Using Experimental Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(5), pages 1017-1098, September.
    8. Sobal, Jeffrey & Rauschenbach, Barbara S. & Frongillo Jr., Edward A., 1992. "Marital status, fatness and obesity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 915-923, October.
    9. Bellido, Héctor & Marcén, Miriam, 2020. "On the relationship between body mass index and marital dissolution," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 326-340.
    10. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1.
    11. Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-255, March-Apr.
    12. Guner, Nezih & Kulikova, Yuliya & Llull, Joan, 2018. "Reprint of: Marriage and health: Selection, protection, and assortative mating," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 162-190.
    13. Shoshana Grossbard & Sankar Mukhopadhyay, 2017. "Marriage markets as explanation for why heavier people work more hours," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-30, December.
    14. Averett, Susan L. & Sikora, Asia & Argys, Laura M., 2008. "For better or worse: Relationship status and body mass index," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 330-349, December.
    15. Iacus, Stefano M. & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2012. "Causal Inference without Balance Checking: Coarsened Exact Matching," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 1-24, January.
    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. Kazuma Sato, 2021. "Relationship between marital status and body mass index in Japan," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 813-841, September.
    2. Ribar, David C., 2004. "What Do Social Scientists Know About the Benefits of Marriage? A Review of Quantitative Methodologies," IZA Discussion Papers 998, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Wilson, Chris M. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2005. "How Does Marriage Affect Physical and Psychological Health? A Survey of the Longitudinal Evidence," Economic Research Papers 269622, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    4. Averett, Susan L. & Sikora, Asia & Argys, Laura M., 2008. "For better or worse: Relationship status and body mass index," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 330-349, December.
    5. Susan Averett & Laura Argys & Julia Sorkin, 2013. "In sickness and in health: an examination of relationship status and health using data from the Canadian National Public Health Survey," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 599-633, December.
    6. Rong Fu & Haruko Noguchi, 2018. "Does the positive relationship between health and marriage reflect protection or selection? Evidence from middle-aged and elderly Japanese," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1003-1016, December.
    7. Wilson, Sven E., 2012. "Marriage, gender and obesity in later life," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 431-453.
    8. Héctor Bellido & J. Ignacio Giménez-Nadal & José Alberto Molina, 2023. "Body mass index and the distribution of housework among British couples," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1247-1268, December.
    9. Requena, Miguel & Reher, David, 2021. "Partnership and mortality in mid and late life: Protection or selection?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    10. Johanna Catherine Maclean, 2016. "Does Leaving School in an Economic Downturn Persistently Affect Body Weight? Evidence from Panel Data," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 122-148, January.
    11. Espinosa, Javier & Evans, William N., 2008. "Heightened mortality after the death of a spouse: Marriage protection or marriage selection?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1326-1342, September.
    12. Robert G. Wood & Brian Goesling & Sarah Avellar, "undated". "The Effects of Marriage on Health: A Synthesis of Recent Research Evidence (Issue Brief)," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 2685fc6f3f9a4fbd9e672e524, Mathematica Policy Research.
    13. Mata, Jutta & Frank, Ronald & Hertwig, Ralph, 2015. "Higher body mass index, less exercise, but healthier eating in married adults: Nine representative surveys across Europe," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 119-127.
    14. Michael Geruso, 2012. "Black-White Disparities in Life Expectancy: How Much Can the Standard SES Variables Explain?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(2), pages 553-574, May.
    15. Bellido, Héctor & Marcén, Miriam, 2020. "On the relationship between body mass index and marital dissolution," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 326-340.
    16. Clark, Andrew E. & Etilé, Fabrice, 2011. "Happy house: Spousal weight and individual well-being," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 1124-1136.
    17. Owen O'Donnell & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Tom Van Ourti, 2013. "Health and Inequality," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-170/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    18. Shuai Chen & Jan C. Ours, 2018. "Subjective Well-being and Partnership Dynamics: Are Same-Sex Relationships Different?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2299-2320, December.
    19. Nagata, Jason M. & Valeggia, Claudia R. & Barg, Frances K. & Bream, Kent D.W., 2009. "Body mass index, socio-economic status and socio-behavioral practices among Tz'utujil Maya women," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 96-106, March.
    20. Jennifer Kohn & Susan Averett, 2014. "Can’t We Just Live Together? New Evidence on the Effect of Relationship Status on Health," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 295-312, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Marriage; BMI; Obesity; DID; China;
    All these keywords.

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:53:y:2024:i:c:s1570677x24000200. 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.