Financial Hardship and Obesity: The Link between Weight and Household Debt

There is a substantial correlation between household debt and health. Individuals with less healthy lifestyles are more likely to hold debt, yet there is little evidence as to whether this is merely a correlation or if financial hardship actually causes obesity. In this paper, we use data from the National Survey of Adolescent Health to test whether financial hardship affects body weight. We divide our sample into two groups: men and women, explore two different types of financial hardship: holding credit card debt and having trouble paying bills, and three outcomes: overweight, obese and Body Mass Index (BMI). We use a variety of econometric techniques: Ordinary Least Squares, Propensity Score Matching, sibling Fixed Effects, and Instrumental Variables to investigate the relationship that exists between financial hardship and body weight. In addition, we conduct several robustness checks. Although our OLS and PSM results indicate a correlation between financial hardship and body weight these results appear to be largely driven by unobservables. Our IV and sibling FE results suggest that there is no causal relationship between credit card debt and overweight or obesity for either men or women. However, we find suggestive evidence that having trouble paying bills may be a cause of obesity for women.