The Education Gradient in Health

Abstract

We examine the determinants of obesity in middle age, with particular attention to the role played by educational attainment. Applying quantile regression methods to longitudinal data sets from the UK and the US, we estimate the schooling effect on the distribution of Body Mass Index (BMI), the primary measure of obesity. Conditioning on childhood BMI and other characteristics of childhood, we confirm health disparities across education groups, establish that this is not a disguised income gradient and extend the current literature by showing that the education effect is greater for the upper quantiles of the BMI distribution, where obesity is indicated.