Conferences at Department of Economics, University of Toronto, RCEF 2012: Cities, Open Economies, and Public Policy

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Childhood Obesity, Parents' Knowledge and Report Cards

Heather Royer*, Silvia Prina

Last modified: 2012-05-11

Abstract


Using a randomized field experiment, we study the impact of body mass index report cards on parental attitudes and behaviors in Mexico, a country with one of the highest obesity rates. Parents in all treatment groups received information about the height and weight of their children and their child's weight status (i.e., underweight, healthy weight, overweight, or obese) and the type of information varied across treatment groups. The intervention increased parental awareness of their child's weight and feelings about their child weight but there were few meaningful changes in parental behavior or children's body mass index.

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