Does Cultural Capital Affect Childhood Obesity?

• In Event: Studying School Effectiveness and School Improvement From Various Approaches

Abstract

This study expands previous research on cultural capital which has primarily emphasized students’ aspirations, orientations to school, and other affective and cognitive outcomes. We hypothesize that cultural capital may contribute to shaping a student’s body image, eating habits, or physical activities, reducing the risk of being overweight. Using the newly released Early Childhood Longitudinal Study 2011 5th grade follow-up (ECLS-K: 2011), we apply dynamic panel model using ML. Our results demonstrate that student cultural activity does reduce the risk of being obese in elementary schooling. Overall, given the recent trend of declining arts education in schools, our results provide important policy implications.

Authors

• Baeksan Yu, Norwegian Institute of Public Health / University of Oslo

• Sean P. Kelly, University of Pittsburgh