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Effects of Title Ix and Sports Participation on Girls’ Physical Activity and Weight

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Effects of Title Ix and Sports Participation on Girls’ Physical Activity and Weight
EFFECTS OF TITLE IX AND SPORTS PARTICIPATION
ON GIRLS’ PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND WEIGHT

Robert Kaestner

This research was partially supported by grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and from the
Chicago Center for Excellence in Health Promotion Economics of the University of Chicago and University of Illinois at Chicago. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

©2006 by Robert Kaestner and Xin Xu. All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit, including © notice, is given to the source.

Effects of Title IX and Sports Participation on Girls’ Physical Activity and Weight
Robert Kaestner and Xin Xu
NBER Working Paper No. 12113
March 2006, Revised June 2006
JEL No. I12, I18

ABSTRACT

In this study, we examined the association between girls’ participation in high school sports and the physical activity, weight, body mass and body composition of adolescent females during the 1970s when girls’ sports participation was dramatically increasing as a result of Title IX. We found that increases in girls’ participation in high school sports, a proxy for expanded athletic opportunities for adolescent females, were associated with an increase in physical activity and an improvement in weight and body mass among girls. In contrast, adolescent boys experienced a decline in physical activity and an increase in weight and body mass during the period when girls’ athletic opportunities were expanding. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that Title IX and the increase in athletic opportunities among adolescent females it engendered had a beneficial effect on the health of adolescent girls.

Robert Kaestner
Department of Economics
Institute of Government and Public Affairs
University of Illinois at



References: American Friends Service Committee. 1977. “Almost as Fairly: The First Year of Title IX Implementation in Six Southern States.” U.S Bound J., Jaeger D. A., Baker R. M. 1995. “On Potential Problems with Instrumental Variables Estimation When the Correlation Between the Instruments and the Endogenous Explanatory Variable is Weak.” Craig W. L. 1977. “Implementing Title IX.” NASSP Bulletin, January 1977. Cutler, D.M., Glaeser E Lake J. K., Power C., Cole T. J. 1997. “Child to Adult Body Mass Index in 1958 British Birth Cohort: Associations with Parental Obesity.” Archives of disease in childhood, 77:376-380 Lloyd T., Chinchilli V. M., Johnson-Rollings N., Kieselhorst K., Eggli D. F., Marcus R. 2000. “Adult Female Hip Bone Density Reflects Teenage, Sports-Exercise Patterns but not Teenage Calcium Intake.” Must, A., Dallal G. E., Dietz, W. H. 1991. "Reference Data for Obesity: 85th and 95th Percentiles of Body Mass Index and Triceps Skinfold Thickness." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 53:839-46 National Center for Health Statistics. 2005. “Prevalence of Overweight Among Children and Adolescents: United States, 1999-2002 June 15, 2005. National Federation of State High School Associations Competitive Athletic Programs in Selected Public High Schools of Texas.” East Texas School Study Council Fall, 1976 Rowland T. W. 1996. “Athleticism, Physical Activity and Health in the Early Years: a Question of Persistence.” Encyclopaedia of Sports Medicine Vol Ruiz J. C., Mandel C., Garabedian M. 1995. “Influence of Spontaneous Calcium Intake and Physical Exercise on the Vertebral and Femoral Bone Density of Children and Adolescents.” Journal of Bone Mineral Specker B. L. 1996. “Evidence of Interaction Between Calcium Intake and Physical Activity on Changes in Bone Mineral Density.” Journal of Bone Mineral Resources, 11: 1539-1544 Staffo D. F. 1980. “Efforts of Selected New York State High School to Provide Equal Opportunity in Interscholastic Athletics.” Review of Sports and Leisure, 5: 93-106 Stefanick M. L. 1993. “Exercise and Weight Control .” Exercise and Sport Sciences Review, 21: 363-396.

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