Expanding Exposure: Can Increasing the Daily Duration of Head Start Reduce Childhood Obesity?
研究利用行政数据，分析全日制与半日制“启智计划”对儿童肥胖的影响，发现全日制显著降低学年末肥胖儿童比例，对政策制定者和教育工作者有参考价值。
Coinciding with the work requirements of welfare reform in the mid-1990s, the early childhood education program, Head Start, significantly expanded to increase the availability of full-day classes. Using unique administrative data, we examine the effect of full-day compared to half-day attendance on childhood obesity. This effect is identified from changes in obesity over time and from the elimination of a state-provided full-day expansion grant that decreased the supply of full-day classes. Our results suggest that full-day Head Start attendance significantly reduces the proportion of obese children at the end of the academic year.