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Is Poor Fitness Contagious? Evidence from Randomly Assigned Friends

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  • Mark Hoekstra
  • Scott Carrell
  • James West

Abstract

The increase in obesity over the past thirty years has led researchers to investigate the role of social networks as a contributing factor. However, several challenges make it difficult to demonstrate a causal link between friends’ physical fitness and own fitness using observational data. This study uses a randomized treatment design and shows that friends' fitness affects own fitness as well as the probability of being classified as unfit. In equilibrium, our estimates imply that each out-of-shape individual creates two additional out-of-shape individuals through their social interactions, thus supporting the provocative notion that poor physical fitness spreads on a person-to-person basis.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Hoekstra & Scott Carrell & James West, 2010. "Is Poor Fitness Contagious? Evidence from Randomly Assigned Friends," Working Paper 387, Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh, revised Jul 2010.
    • Handle: RePEc:pit:wpaper:387
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    File URL: http://www.econ.pitt.edu/papers/Mark_IsPoorFitnessContagious.pdf
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