The effects of drinking and sports on popularity of overweight adolescents: implications for public policy.

Aim: In this paper, we explore the influence of alcohol consumption and sports participation on popularity of overweight adolescent males and females of different races and ethnicities. Subjects and methods: Using data collected in 1994 and 1996 from a large nationally representative survey of adolescent friendship networks, we estimate models accounting for school-level fixed effects, and a wide range of individual-level controls to ascertain the causal effect of these behaviors on change in popularity. Results: We find that sports participation leads to increase in the number of friends among overweight white males. Additionally, overweight white females and males experience a significant gain in popularity by engaging in alcohol consumption. Conclusion: These results underscore the importance of promoting sports and physical activity not only to objectively reverse the childhood obesity trend but also as a way to achieve popularity that is superior to alcohol consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]