Investment in Education, Obesity and Health Behaviours

This study reports new evidence on the association between educational outcomes for young adults in Italy (in terms of both schooling levels and type of education) and selected health behaviours (simultaneously taken). The results indicate the following: i) individuals who decide to stay at school longer also do things that improve their own health, such as not smoking, practicing physical activity, maintaining a normal body weight and low consumption of unhealthy food (snacks, cakes, etc.), thereby confirming complementarities between investment in education and health (Fuchs, 2004, Becker 2007); and ii) particularly for females, a positive association is observed between the choice of Sciences vs. Humanities, a normal body weight and the adoption of healthy behaviours (not smoking, practising physical activity, and consuming healthy food).