Datar and Nicosia (2012) investigated the effects of junk food availability on the body mass index (BMI), and related outcomes among fifth-graders. The authors acknowledged the increased rates of child obesity in the US. Besides, they noted that some of the cross-sectional research did not address the potential endogeneity in the school food environment. An assessment of this phenomena showed that using the OLS model; there was a small positive correlation BMI and obesity, but that was insignificant upon application of statistical controls.
Competitive foods sold in school are not subject to Federal nutrition standards and, therefore, account for the variety of food environments in the schools. Existing data showed that the availability of competitive foods caused a decline in nutritional quality. To ascertain the effects on endogeneity on the BMI, the authors measured the BMI for a sample of fifth graders (average BMI of the sample was 20.4), collected data on the rate of consumption of junk foods like salty snacks, sweetened drinks, and sweets. Also, they collected data on the rate of consumption of selected foods like fast foods, and sweetened drinks and also six healthy drinks like vegetables, green salad, milk, potatoes, carrots, and fruits. There was a significant infrequent consumption of potatoes, carrots, and green salads. They also collected data on the availability of junk foods in schools. Using econometric models to analyze the data, the resulted showed that the availability of junk foods in school did not have significant effects on obesity.
Reference
Datar, A., and Nicosia N. (2012). Junk Food in Schools and Childhood Obesity. J Policy Anal Manage. 2012 Spring; 31(2): 312–337. Retrieved on May 15, 2016 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3667628/
