Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Development Increased Income For Rural Pennsylvania Families, But Youth Obesity Rates Remained High, Molly A. Martin

Population Health Research Brief Series

A new study finds that despite increased income due to MarcellusShale, childhood obesity in rural PA remain unchanged.

The Sugar Industry Gets Rich And We Get Sick, Mary Katherine A. Schutt, Shannon M. Monnat

Population Health Research Brief Series

This issue brief takes a deep dive into strategies the sugar industry uses to gain profits while making us sick.

The Makings Of A Peer: Evidence On Within-Classroom Heterogeneities In Peer Effects, Jonathan L. Presler

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation consists of three essays on peer effects in elementary school classrooms using data from New York City (NYC) public schools. Each chapter explores a different component of within-classroom interactions in order to build towards an understanding of what makes a peer relevant.

The first chapter proxies for the social network using a set of shared characteristics (homophily). In this coauthored work, we are not interested in measuring the classroom peer effect, but rather we estimate and then rank each network's effect on academic spillovers. This answers the question: which characteristics are socially important, and by how much?

The …

The Impact Of Bmi On Mental Health: Further Evidence From Genetic Markers, Vikesh Amin, Carlos A. Flores, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes

Center for Policy Research

We examine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and mental health for young adults and elderly individuals using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and the Health & Retirement Study. While ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates show that BMI is significantly associated with worse mental health in both young adulthood and old age, they are likely to be confounded by (i) unobserved factors that affect both BMI and mental health and (ii) reverse causality. To tackle confounding, we take two complementary approaches. First, we use a polygenic score for BMI as an instrumental variable (IV) and …

Research Brief: "Ptsd And Depression Symptoms Are Associated With Binge Eating Among Us Iraq And Afghanistan Veterans", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This brief summarizes a scholarly article of the same name. It reviews research which assesses the prevalence of binge eating among US Veterans of OEF/OIF and how those symptoms are related to PTSD and depression.

Obesity Indices And Cognitive Function In Veterans, Kristin Macgregor

Psychology - Dissertations

Obesity is linked to many chronic health conditions and middle-aged obesity is associated with later-life dementia. Obesity rates in veterans are higher than in the civilian population. Research examining body mass index (BMI) and cognitive function has demonstrated that young to middle-aged obese adults consistently demonstrate deficits in memory and executive function. Waist circumference (WC) is another measure of obesity that has been investigated as it relates to cognitive function; however, a clear pattern of deficit has not yet emerged. This study's purpose was to investigate the relationship among BMI, WC, and cognitive function in male veterans aged 18-55. One …

Research Brief: "Bmi Trajectory Groups In Veterans Of The Iraq And Afghanistan Wars", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This brief is about obesity rates among OEF/OIF veterans and how race, education level, gender, and use of the VA play a role in obesity rates. For practice and policy, a fitness education program should be implemented by the VA to help lower obesity rates since obesity can cause more serious health problems. Suggestions for future research include expanding the study to involve veterans from other military eras and expanding the study to look at more risks associated with obesity.

Coping With Negative Feedback In The Health Domain: Are Race Differences In Coping Related To Weight Disparities Among Blacks And Whites?, Lindsay Renee Kraynak

Psychology - Theses

While overweight and obesity are problems for many adults, there are significant racial disparities, such that Blacks suffer higher rates than Whites. A number of health conditions that are linked to overweight and obesity, including diabetes and hypertension are also more prevalent among Blacks than among Whites (Glover, Greenlund, Ayla, & Croft, 2005; Pleis & Lethbridge-Çejku, 2007). With the knowledge that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has suggested that there are psychological components to obesity, this research aims to investigate psychological components that may contribute to the weight/health disparity between Blacks and Whites. Other research has demonstrated that …