Children’s Health Capital Investment: Effects of U.S. Infant Breastfeeding on Teenage Obesity

Obesity, as a health and social problem with rising prevalence and soaring economic cost, is increasingly drawing scholarly and public policy attention. While many studies have suggested that infant breastfeeding protects against childhood obesity, empirical evidence on this causal relationship is fragile. Using the health capital development theory, this study exploited multiple data sources from the U.S. and a three-way error components model (ECM) with a jackknife resampling plan to estimate the effect of in-hospital breastfeeding initiation and breastfeeding for durations of 3, 6, and 12 months on the prevalence of obesity during teenage years. The main finding was that a 1% rise in the in-hospital breastfeeding initiation rate reduces the teenage obesity prevalence rate by 1.7% (9.6% of a standard deviation). The magnitude of this effect declines as the infant breastfeeding duration lengthens—e.g., the 12-month infant breastfeeding duration rate is associated with a 0.53% (3.7% of a standard deviation) reduction in obesity prevalence in the teenage years (9th to 12th grades). The study findings agree with both the behavioral and physiological theories on the long-term effects of breastfeeding, and have timely implications for public policies promoting infant breastfeeding to reduce the economic burden of teenage and later adult-stage obesity prevalence rates.

НЕКОТОРЫЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ ЗДОРОВЬЕСБЕРЕГАЮЩЕГО ПОВЕДЕНИЯ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ ПРИГРАНИЧНЫХ РЕГИОНОВ РОССИИ

The relevance of the research stipulated by the fact that health is the most important component of human capital, the quality of realization of human labor activity depends on its condition, and, hence, how useful it will be for both his family and the state as a whole. A significant part of the population in Russia does not have access to basic medical care, for many years there has been a decline in the population, and in terms of life expectancy, our country ranks 96th in the world. The aim of this work is to analyze the condition of health capital and health-saving behavior of the population in six border regions of Russia. The empirical basis is the data of the sociological survey conducted in 2020-2021 by the research team of the Altai State University. The main features of the behavior of the residents of the selected regions in preserving their own health revealed. When assessing their health, the respondents most often indicated average and good health. The majority of the population has chronic diseases, among which gastrointestinal diseases, hypertension and spinal diseases are the commonest. Almost half of the respondents do not consume alcohol and do not smoke, regularly see a doctor and do sports in order to stay healthy. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the assessment of the state of health of the population in the border regions, as well as their strategies of health-saving behavior. The practical value of the study consists in the presentation of actual assessments of the health capital of the population of the selected regions, allowing the state to take measures to improve the situation in the regions on this issue.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Economic Growth: Theory and Simulation

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has caused profound consequences on world economy. In order to explore the long-term impact of the pandemic on economic growth and the effects of different policy responses, this paper combines economic theory with epidemiological model to construct an interdisciplinary model, in which labor supply is dynamically constrained by pandemic conditions. Analysis of model equilibrium suggests that outbreaks of infectious disease reduce labor supply and negatively affect economic output. The accumulation of health capital can suppress the spread of disease and improve the recovery rate of infected individuals, which will alleviate the labor supply constraint caused by the pandemic and lead to an increase in output and consumption. The model is then calibrated to Chinese economy. The simulation results imply that government's public health policy can enhance the role of health capital in promoting economic growth. But the marginal effect of certain policies is diminishing. Therefore, the government needs to balance pandemic prevention and control costs and marginal benefits when formulating public health policies. When the pandemic is under control, the resumption of production is feasible and the economic stimulus package could lead to economic recovery.

Body Mass and Income: Gender and Occupational Differences

This paper aims to examine the influence of body shape on income, which varies with gender and occupational structure in China. The data were obtained from the CGSS (Chinese General Social Survey) 2010–2017 Survey. The overall finding in this paper is that women and men face different body shape–income effects. For females, the obesity penalty is significant and is reinforced with increasing occupational rank. For men, the thinness penalty (or weight premium) is enhanced as the occupational class decreases. Body shape–income gaps are mainly caused by the occupational structure. Twenty-nine percent of the income gap between overweight and average weight women can be explained by the obesity penalty, 37% of the income gap between overweight and average weight men can be interpreted by the weight premium, and 11% of the gap between underweight and normal weight men can be explained by the thinness penalty. The findings also suggest that the effect of body shape on income consists of two pathways: body shape affects health capital and socialization, and therefore income. Healthy lifestyles and scientific employment concepts should be promoted, and measures to close the gender gap should be implemented.

Health Capital and its Relationship to Economic Growth

The purpose of the article/hypothesis: The purpose of this paper is to attempt to justify the thesis that the health potential of human and society has an impact on economic well-being, contributing to the economic growth of countries, and thus their enrichment. Methodology: In order to examine the significance and strength of the impact of health capital on productivity on a macroeconomic scale, an econometric model of economic growth was used and six estimations were made in which the impact of subsequent components of this capital was examined. Results of the research: It turned out that 4 out of 6 introduced variables of health capital significantly influenced economic growth, and their direction is consistent with the economic theory. This implies necessity for further studies.

Prenatal care of Venezuelans in Colombia: migrants navigating the healthcare system

OBJECTIVES To explore the experiences of irregular (undocumented) Venezuelan migrants in accessing prenatal health services in Colombia and to examine the economic, social, and cultural resources mobilized by them to gain access to care. METHODS Data was retrieved from the qualitative component of a multi-method research conducted with pregnant immigrants in Barranquilla, Colombia, between 2018 and 2019, and triangulated with a review of regulations established by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection. RESULTS Having limited economic capital, participants use social capital from personal networks and migrant organizations. They obtain cultural health capital in the form of information on the health system and use their cultural competencies to interact with this system. CONCLUSIONS Migrants exert their agency through the use of capitals, although with certain constraints. Policies aimed at this social group should consider the strengths of migrants.

Determinan Efisiensi Perbankan BPR Syariah Indonesia

This research aims to determine how the level of efficiency is measured by the DEA method and what the inhibiting factors are, how the variables of the level of profitability, level of complexity, level of health, capital ownership can affect the level of efficiency and its relationship with CAMEL. The research is located in the province of East Java with a total sample of 77 samples. The analysis technique used is tobit regression and Spearman correlation. The results showed that the level of efficiency of BPR Syariah in East Java was very fluctuating and the management of the input variables had not yet reached the maximum level when compared to the output variables which were the results of the management of these input variables. The results of the Spearman correlation test show that the level of efficiency is related to CAMEL because in CAMEL there is also an efficiency component even though the weighting value is small. Overall, it can be concluded that the level of perfect efficiency can be achieved not only by comparing the input and output variables optimally but also considering other factors outside of these variables.