Data: 14/07/2010

Autore: Franco Peracchi - Università di Roma “Tor Vergata” e EIEF

Abstract: This paper studies the relationship between early-life environment, measured by infant mortality and income per capita, and height and body-mass index (BMI) of recent cohorts of Italian males. By combining high-quality micro-level data on height and weight with regional- and province-level information, we are able to link individual height and BMI at age 18 to regional- and provincial- averages of environmental variables in the year of birth. We show that early-life environment appears to matter more for height than for BMI. Our findings are also consistent with scarring dominating selection. Finally, we find that both infant mortality and income/consumption matter, especially for height.
Keywords: Body height, BMI, obesity, income, health.
JEL codes: C31, C81, J13.