Obesity and Early School Leaving in EU Countries: Evidence of Health Behaviours using an Instrumental Variable Approach

According to Eurostat, “early school leaversµ are defined as the percentage of the population aged 18-24 with at most a lower secondary education, and not participating in further (formal or non-formal) education or training; among young adults (aged 18-24) in the EU, there are also geographical differences in obesity rates and in physical activity. The aim of the paper was to analyse whether an individual (aged between 18 and 24 years) who is obese has a higher probability of leaving school early. Using a probit regression and a full sample of individuals aged between 18 and 24 years, we find that being obese raises the probability of being an early leaver in the three geographical European areas (northern, central, and southern), although the coefficient for central Europe is higher than those for southern and northern areas. Further, we use an IV probit regression to deal with the endogeneity in which physical activity is the instrument for obesity. The findings indicate that obesity is a good predictor of early school leaving in central and southern Europe. These findings suggest that national Governments should promote more strenuous physical activity in universities and that fighting against obesity in early life is a valuable policy in reducing future early school leaving; valuable also because obesity adversely affects emotional and social skills.