Does weight impact adolescent mental health? Evidence from China
利用中国家庭追踪调查数据，研究发现青少年体重增加会显著改善心理健康，这与成人证据相反，部分原因在于超重青少年在中国同伴中更受欢迎。
In this paper, we examine the causal impact of weight on adolescent mental health. Using the China Family Panel Studies, we find significant negative effects of adolescent weight, instrumented by cohort-level parental body mass index (BMI), on mental illness. In particular, a one standard deviation increase in adolescent BMI z-score decreases the K6 score by 0.766 (or 0.232 standard deviations). This finding is contrary to recent evidence from adults. We find this contrast can partly be explained by the different impacts of adolescent weight on self-image and social relationships. Unlike adults, heavy adolescents feel that they are popular among peers in China.