The effect of personalised weight feedback on weight loss and health behaviours: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design
利用英国纵向数据，采用断点回归方法，研究发现被告知“超重”对后续减重无显著影响，但被告知“非常超重”使个体平均减重约1%，且效果主要由高收入家庭驱动，部分源于体力活动增加。
Using a regression-discontinuity approach on a U.K. longitudinal dataset, this research analyses whether personalised weight feedback resulted in individuals losing weight over a period of between 2 and 7 years. The analysis presented here finds that being told one was "overweight" had, on average, no effect on subsequent weight loss; however, being told one was "very overweight" resulted in individuals losing, on average, approximately 1% of their bodyweight. The effect of feedback was found to be strongly moderated by household income, with those in higher income households accounting for seemingly all of the estimated effect due, in part, to increased physical activity. These findings suggest that the provision of weight feedback may be a cost-effective way to reduce obesity in adults. They do however also highlight that the differential response to the provision of health information may be a driver of health inequalities and that the provision of feedback may bias longitudinal health studies.