This research project proposes to study the effects of parental work on child obesity. The project will use data from two large, national datasets ---the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) and the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY) and has four specific aims: 1) To explore the effects of parental employment on child obesity across different stages of childhood; 2) To assess how non- standard parental work affects child obesity; 3) If parental work is found to affect childhood obesity, to explore how features of the home environment and child after school activity mediate this effect across different periods of childhood and; 4) To determine how the features of schools might affect child obesity above and beyond the potential effects of parental work for children in middle-childhood. ? ? The increased incidence of obesity is widely recognized as a threat to the health and well-being of young people. To the extent that this project can discern an effect of parental work and the pathways through which this effect might operate, it will be useful in helping to direct public health efforts and policies aimed at stemming the increases in obesity among young people. Similarly, understanding how schools may cause child obesity can provide clear directions for anti-obesity programs and policies. In order to best address the aims identified above, the project will employ various statistical methods to determine if a causal relationship between parental work and obesity exists, and how this effect may differ across periods of childhood. For one, the analysis will capitalize on the rich information offered by both datasets and the availability of a longitudinal sample in each to estimate the causal effect of parental work independent of the influences of both observed and unobserved factors that might bias this effect. Additionally, the causal effect of such work on child obesity will be estimated using a statistical method that mimics a randomized experimental design. Results from each dataset will be compared to assess whether any stage-specific effect of parental work on child obesity exists. ? ? ?
| Miller, Daniel P (2011) Associations between the home and school environments and child body mass index. Soc Sci Med 72:677-84 |
| Miller, Daniel P; Han, Wen-Jui (2008) Maternal nonstandard work schedules and adolescent overweight. Am J Public Health 98:1495-502 |
