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Job Strenuousness and Obesity: The Case of a Developing Country

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  • Kitae Sohn

Abstract

This paper analyses the Indonesian Family Life Survey to show that job strenuousness is negatively related to obesity, which is largely consistent with the literature. However, this paper does not interpret the relationship as causal. Instead, efforts are made to demonstrate that the relationship is attributable to sample selection: workers with low socioeconomic status are lightweight and selected for strenuous jobs. This paper warns against reflexive applications of the conclusions derived from the developed world to the developing world. Our results imply that sedentariness at work probably plays a small role in the prevalence of obesity in the region.

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  • Kitae Sohn, 2014. "Job Strenuousness and Obesity: The Case of a Developing Country," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(9), pages 1289-1301, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:50:y:2014:i:9:p:1289-1301
    DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2014.925543
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    1. Böckerman, Petri & Johansson, Edvard & Jousilahti, Pekka & Uutela, Antti, 2008. "The physical strenuousness of work is slightly associated with an upward trend in the BMI," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(6), pages 1346-1355, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kitae Sohn & Illoong Kwon, 2018. "Does Trust Promote Entrepreneurship In A Developing Country?," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 63(05), pages 1385-1403, December.
    2. Sohn, Kitae, 2015. "The value of male height in the marriage market," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 110-124.
    3. Kitae Sohn, 2016. "Risk Incomprehension and Its Economic Consequences," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(11), pages 1545-1560, November.

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