BECE. Newsletter 

Vol.17, No.2, 2024, BECE 1871 

 

 

 

 

The Relation between Adolescents’ Weight and 

Peer Effects in the Classroom Setting: 

An Empirical Analysis 

By Du, S., Cheng, G., & Yu, W. 
Correspondence to: Gang Cheng, Beijing Normal University, China. E-mail: 

cg@bnu.edu.cn 

INCE THE BEGINNING of the 21st century, obesity among adolescents 

has become an increasingly serious issue in China. It impedes the devel-

opment of human capital of the individual, as well as threatening socioeco-

nomic development by inducing exorbitant health expenditure. Among the 

many factors contributing to this issue is the school environment, particularly 

the classroom setting, and the basic building block of school education. This 

article is an investigation of the relationship between adolescents’ weight and 

peer effects in the classroom setting, based on relevant data from the China 

Education Panel Survey.  

 Research findings show that: 

• There existed significant peer effects in adolescent weight with-

in a class. The average BMI and rates of overweight and obesity 

in peers were positively related to the weight of each individual 

teenager. 

• The individual’s perception of weight moderated peer effects in 

weight. Overestimating one’s own weight remarkably dimin-

ished the peer effects, while underestimating it did not. 

To positively leverage peer effects in adolescent weight, the study 

proposes suggestions as follows: (i) Increase investment in teenager health 

education to advance the action plan for health education of Chinese primary 

and secondary school students by improving tangible and soft environments 

for the school-based health education; (ii) Focus the content of health educa-

tion on plural hazards of overweight and obesity and help students develop 

legitimate perception of weight, healthy conception of body image, and sys-

tematic knowledge about health management; (iii) Pay due regard to stu-

dents’ social experience while introducing the notion of BMI and ensure 

them a harmonious and friendly school climate in implementing the health 

education monitoring mechanism.  

 
Source: Journal of East China Normal University, 2023; 41(12):85-99. 

S 

mailto:cg@bnu.edu.cn