%0 Report
        %A Aoki-Beattie, Yu
%A Arulampalam, Wiji
%A Lloyd, Neil
        %T Proximity to Fast-Food Outlets and Adolescent z-BMI: Accounting for Persistent Health Dynamics
        %D 2026
        %8 2026 Jul
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 18770
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18770
        %X We estimate the causal effect of exposure to fast-food outlets on adolescent z-BMI using the UK Millennium Cohort Study linked to comprehensive geospatial data. We develop a novel approach to modelling z-BMI persistence by clustering early childhood z-BMI trajectories, allowing us to distinguish baseline obesity susceptibility from contemporaneous environmental effects. Identification exploits the near-universal transition from primary to secondary school, generating plausibly exogenous variation in exposure to fast-food outlets around schools. We find that adolescents with at least one major-brand outlet near school have, on average, a 0.158 standard-deviation higher z-BMI. Effects decline with distance, are limited around the home, and do not extend to other food outlets.
        %K adolescent obesity
%K body mass index
%K fast food
%K school food environment