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The prevalence of overweight and obesity is growing rapidly in many countries. Education policies might be important for reducing this increase. This paper analyses the causal effect of education on the probability of being overweight by using longitudinal data of Australian identical twins. The data include self-reported and clinical measures of body size. Our cross-sectional estimates confirm the well-known negative association between education and the probability of being overweight. For men we find that education also reduces the probability of being overweight within pairs of identical twins. The estimated effect of education on overweight status increases with age. Remarkably, for women we find no negative effect of education on body size when fixed family effects are taken into account. Identical twin sisters who differ in educational attainment do not systematically differ in body size. Peer effects within pairs of identical twin sisters might play a role.

This paper analyses the causal effect of teenage childbearing on smoking, drinking and body size using a sample of Australian twins and their relatives. Fixed effects estimates on samples of siblings, all twin pairs and identical twin pairs show that teenage mothers smoke more during their lives. Teen mothers tend to have a higher probability of being overweight, especially if they are older than 40 years. Their spouses are more likely to smoke and drink more. The quality of the spouse seems to be an important mechanism through which teenage childbearing affects subsequent maternal health.