Educational attainment and family health risk behaviors

Abstract

Many studies have shown that education does play a role in personal health risk behaviors, but few studies have focused on whether education significantly affects family health risk behaviors. In this article, we aim to examine the effects of educational attainment on family health behaviors using survey data from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). The ordinary least squares (OLS) approach and the instrumental variable (IV) method are adopted. Regression results show that the educational attainment of respondents has a significant inhibitory effect on household smoking participation, the number of smokers, and the number of cigarettes smoked per day, but has no significant effect on household drinking behavior. Results of mechanism analysis reveal that a one-stage increase in the population's education level would reduce the probability of smoking initiation by 7.89% and decrease the daily cigarettes consumption by 4.59. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that compared to women, men's increased educational attainment has a significant inhibitory effect on smoking participation not only for themselves but also for the rest of the household. From a health perspective, we suggest that the government should further promote the development of education.