We provide the first comprehensive assessment of the effects of state-level nutrition-education program funding on individual-level BMI, the probability of obesity and the probability of above normal weight. We estimate models using pooled cross-sectional data from the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and data from the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) funding of state-specific nutrition-education programs from 1992 - 2006. During this period federal funding for state-specific nutrition-education programs rose from $0 to nearly $248 million. We isolate the effect of nutrition-education funding while controlling for demographics, state and year fixed effects. Our results suggest that nutrition-education program funding is associated with reductions in BMI and the probability of an individual having an above normal BMI. Furthermore, we find evidence that the nutrition-education program funding is a complement to education, individuals with a higher level of education will have a larger response to funding than those with lower levels of education.
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This paper was revised on June 10, 2009
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