Body-weight and psychological well-being in the UK general population
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Archangelidi, Olga
Mentzakis, Emmanouil
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background: While the consequences of body weight for physical health are well explored, the evidence for psychological well-being is less straightforward. An instrumental variable approach is used to address the endogenous relationship between body weight and well-being in the UK general population. Methods: Data from the Health Survey for England (2003, 2004 and 2006) are used to fit linear and ordered probit instrument variable models for a sample of 13 862 individuals, with frequent white meat consumption instrumenting for body-weight. Non-linearities in the relationship, robustness to weak instruments and relaxation of strict exogeneity assumption are further examined. Results: Accounting for endogeneity and conditional on health a protective effect on well-being is observed. A unit increase in body mass index (BMI) improves General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) by 0.17 (95% CI: 0.02-0.31) points and reduces the probability of reporting very low GHQ by 2.5% (95% CI: 0.01-0.05). Empirical testing showed that the instrument performs well, with increased meat consumption adding 0.58 points (95% CI: 0.42-0.74) to ones' BMI. Conclusions: We present support for the jolly-fat hypothesis, however, caution is recommended in drawing inferences. Further research needs to resolve the mixed findings in the literature.
Date Issued
2018-06-01
Date Acceptance
2017-05-02
Citation
Journal of Public Health (Oxford), 2018, 40 (2), pp.245-252
ISSN
1741-3842
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Start Page
245
End Page
252
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Public Health (Oxford)
Volume
40
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28505347
PII: 3827546
Subjects
body mass index
body weight
instrumental variables
psychological well-being
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Date Publish Online
2017-05-15