Body Mass Index and Women’s Work Hours in the United States: Much Ado about (practically) Nothing

Abstract

Most research in the area of economics and obesity attempts to identify thecause(s) of the increase in the average body mass index (BMI) in developed countries.Common themes include lower relative food prices, technological advances that have ledto more sedentary work and leisure activities and a larger number of ready-to-eat foodproducts for sale, a cultural shift toward greater discounting of the future, and an increasein the consumption of restaurant and other prepared foods due to the rise in women’s laborforce participation. This paper includes a survey of the literature regarding women’s workbehavior and their children’s BMIs, and it also contains an analysis of data regarding thechildren of the female respondents to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth(NLSY79) from 1996 to 2006 to confirm earlier findings. Missing from the literature areanalyses of women’s work hours and their own BMIs, and women’s work hours and theirhusbands’ BMIs, so this paper also includes analysis of data provided by the respondentsof the NLSY79 from 1996 to 2006 to explore these relationships. The results show thereis little evidence women’s increased participation in the labor force is a significantcontributor to higher BMIs in the United States. (I18; J12; J13; J16)