The intergenerational transmission of BMI in China

Intergenerational Transmission of Body Mass and Obesity Status in Australia

“…This relationship is much stronger when we restrict the sample to mothers with morbid obesity, where the percentage‐point difference in the probability of being an adolescent with obesity is estimated to be 0.144. In addition, we estimate that the intergenerational elasticity of the BMI between mother and adolescent is 0.242, which is consistent with estimates from other countries (Whitaker et al , ; Abrevaya & Tang, ; Murrin et al , ; Dolton & Xiao, , ). When we account for adolescent‐specific fixed effects, the estimated elasticity reduces to 0.043.…”

“…This suggests that although genetic and permanent environmental factors (represented by the adolescent fixed effects) account for a large proportion of the intergenerational transmission of BMI in Australia, intergenerational transmission also occurs due to factors that change over time. Following the interpretation of Coneus and Spieß () and Dolton and Xiao (), time‐varying factors account for around 18 per cent (0.043/0.242) of the intergenerational elasticity. However, as noted earlier (see footnote 9), it is important to recognise that the sources of identifying variation between the pooled OLS and the FE models are different.…”

“…Classen and Thompson () suggested a similar gradient, although their subsamples had very few observations, which precluded meaningful statistical inference. However, Anderson et al (), Whitaker et al (), and Dolton and Xiao () are unable to demonstrate a socioeconomic gradient in the degree of transmission of BMI and obesity status.…”

“…Our most extensive model returns an intergenerational elasticity estimate of 0.242, with a standard error of 0.017. Murrin et al () estimated 0.20 for Ireland, Whitaker et al () estimated 0.27 for England, Dolton and Xiao () estimated 0.141 for China, and Abrevaya and Tang () estimated a range between 0.22 and 0.25 for the USA. More recent work by Dolton and Xiao () showed a range of estimates between 0.117 in Mexico to 0.215 in China, with elasticity estimates for Indonesia, the UK (two different cohorts), the USA and Spain falling in between.…”

“…Bhalotra & Rawlings, ; Thompson, ; and Halliday et al , ), but more specifically to the literature which looks at the intergenerational mobility in weight status. A few examples of studies in the economics literature which look at the intergenerational transmission of body mass are Dolton and Xiao (, ) and Classen and Thompson (). This branch of the academic literature is important since the endowment and experiences of one generation which result in detrimental health outcomes for the next can perpetuate a state of health inequality in a society.…”