IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/zbw/espost/232265.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Education Differences in Women’s Body Weight Trajectories: The Role of Motherhood

Author

Listed:
  • Kröger, Hannes
  • Leopold, Liliya

Abstract

Studies have found that education differences in women’s body weight increase until middle adulthood. The explanatory mechanisms behind this increase are not well-understood. This study examined the role of education differences in the prevalence of motherhood as a risk factor for weight gain and in vulnerability to its effects on weight gain. We used longitudinal data from the German Socio-economic Panel Study. Our sample included 2,668 women aged between 17 and 45 and observed at least twice between 2002 and 2016 (n = 13,899 panel observations). We used OLS regression models to estimate initial education differences in body weight and fixed-effects panel regression models to estimate education differences in body-weight trajectories. Motherhood was associated with increasing body weight, and the effects of motherhood on weight gain varied by education. Motherhood partially accounted for the increase of education differences during reproductive age. Until the age of 30, differences in the prevalence of motherhood accounted for about 20% of the bodyweight gap between lower and higher educated women. From age 35 until 45, differential vulnerability to the effects of motherhood on body weight explained about 15% of the education gap in body weight.

Suggested Citation

  • Kröger, Hannes & Leopold, Liliya, 2020. "Education Differences in Women’s Body Weight Trajectories: The Role of Motherhood," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 15(9).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:232265
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236487
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/232265/1/Kr%c3%b6ger-2020-Education-Differences-Women-VV.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0236487?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Caliendo, Marco & Gehrsitz, Markus, 2016. "Obesity and the labor market: A fresh look at the weight penalty," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 209-225.
    2. Baum II, Charles L. & Ruhm, Christopher J., 2009. "Age, socioeconomic status and obesity growth," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 635-648, May.
    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. Hannes Kröger & Liliya Leopold, 2020. "Education differences in women’s body weight trajectories: The role of motherhood," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(9), pages 1-23, September.
    2. Goulão, Catarina & Lacomba, Juan Antonio & Lagos, Francisco & Rooth, Dan-Olof, 2024. "Weight, attractiveness, and gender when hiring: A field experiment in Spain," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 132-145.
    3. Benson, Rebecca & von Hippel, Paul T. & Lynch, Jamie L., 2018. "Does more education cause lower BMI, or do lower-BMI individuals become more educated? Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 370-377.
    4. Pierre Dubois & Rachel Griffith & Martin O'Connell, 2020. "How Well Targeted Are Soda Taxes?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(11), pages 3661-3704, November.
    5. Xu, Wenyan & Zhao, Qiran & Si, Wei & Zhu, Chen, 2024. "Rich and fat? Isolating the causal effect of obesity on income among rural Chinese residents by Mendelian randomization," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343633, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Scott Carson, 2015. "A Weighty Issue: Diminished Net Nutrition Among the U.S. Working Class in the Nineteenth Century," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(3), pages 945-966, June.
    7. Cavaliere, Alessia & De Marchi, Elisa & Banterle, Alessandro, 2013. "Time Preference and Health: The Problem of Obesity," 2013 International European Forum, February 18-22, 2013, Innsbruck-Igls, Austria 164754, International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks.
    8. Caliendo, Marco & Gehrsitz, Markus, 2016. "Obesity and the labor market: A fresh look at the weight penalty," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 209-225.
    9. Molly A. Martin & Margaret Gough Courtney & Adam M. Lippert, 2022. "The Risks and Consequences of Skipping Meals for Low-Income Mothers," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(6), pages 2613-2644, December.
    10. Ovrum, Arnstein & Gustavsen, Geir Waehler & Rickertsen, Kyrre, 2012. "Health inequalities over the adult life course: the role of lifestyle choices," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 125862, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Laurens Cherchye & Bram De Rock & Rachel Griffith & Martin O'Connell & Kate Smith & Frederic Vermeulen, 2017. "A New Year, a New You ?Heterogeneity and Self-control in Food Purchases," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2017-46, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    12. Viego, Valentina N. & Temporelli , Karina L., 2011. "Sobrepeso y obesidad en Argentina. Un análisis basado en técnicas de econometría espacial/Overweigh and Obesity in Argentina. A Spatial Approach," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 29, pages 915(26á)-91, Diciembre.
    13. Costa-Font, Joan & Fabbri, Daniele & Gil, Joan, 2009. "Decomposing body mass index gaps between Mediterranean countries: A counterfactual quantile regression analysis," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 351-365, December.
    14. MORIKAWA Masayuki, 2018. "Smoking, Obesity, and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Japan," Discussion papers 18023, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    15. Cavaco, Sandra & Eriksson, Tor & Skalli, Ali, 2014. "Life cycle development of obesity and its determinants in six European countries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 14(C), pages 62-78.
    16. Stifel, David C. & Averett, Susan L., 2009. "Childhood overweight in the United States: A quantile regression approach," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 387-397, December.
    17. Gerdtham, Ulf-G & Lundborg, Petter & Lyttkens, Carl Hampus & Nystedt, Paul, 2012. "Do Socioeconomic Factors Really Explain Income-Related Inequalities in Health? Applying a Twin Design to Standard Decomposition Analysis," Working Papers 2012:21, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    18. Vincenzo Atella & Joanna Kopinska, 2011. "Body weight of Italians: the weight of Education," CEIS Research Paper 189, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 23 Mar 2011.
    19. Bimbo, Francesco & Viscecchia, Rosaria & Nardone, Gianluca, 2012. "Does the alternative food supply network affect the human health?," 126th Seminar, June 27-29, 2012, Capri, Italy 126060, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    20. Persson, Sofie & Dahlquist, Gisela & Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Steen Carlsson, Katarina, 2014. "Childhood Health and Labor Market Outcomes in the Case of Type 1 Diabetes," Working Papers 2014:43, Lund University, Department of Economics.

    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:zbw:espost:232265. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zbwkide.html .

    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.