Jul 2026· Health Economics· Vol 35, pp. 1482-1495· 1 citation· 33 references
Medicine
Abstract
Air pollution is a significant environmental issue with widespread impacts on public health. Evidence on the causal effect of air pollution control policies on weight-related outcomes remains limited. This study fills this gap by leveraging the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan as a quasi-natural experiment, combining four waves (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) of panel data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Employing a difference-in-differences framework, we find that implementing this policy significantly reduces overweight risk among residents. Mechanism analyses indicate that the policy primarily lowers overweight risk by increasing physical exercise frequency and alleviating depressive symptoms. Further heterogeneity analyses show this impact is particularly pronounced among urban residents, young adults, females, and individuals with lower educational attainment. Our findings clarify the causal link between environmental regulation and population health, and provide actionable insights for policymakers to design coordinated interventions that leverage air quality improvements to advance public health goals.
Air pollution has become a major global challenge, imposing substantial health and economic burdens while threatening progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study investigates the impact of air pollution on healthcare expenditure using panel data from 95 countries over the period 2010-2020. Two...
Loan Thị Vũ, Trang Dinh, Thao Phuong Hoang et al.· VNU University of Economics...· 0 citations
The findings indicate that awareness and personal precautions cannot substitute for source-oriented emission control and an integrated intervention architecture is proposed, combining enforceable urban regulation, school- and community-based risk communication, real-time air-quality information and practical exposure-r...
Hai Binh Nguyen, Minh Chinh Pham· International Journal of Pub...· 0 citations
This paper examines whether the establishment of “Key Controlled Areas for Air Pollution Prevention and Control” and its associated policy package in China improved residents’ health. Based on data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2011–2018, Our study finds that this command-and-control...
Xi Gu, Si-Jia Qiao, Xing-Ran Yuan· Sustainability· 0 citations
Health constitutes a fundamental component of human capital for high-quality economic development and an important indicator of social well-being. Using panel data for 31 Chinese provinces from 2010 to 2023, this study treats the implementation of the Environmental Protection Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China i...
Jun-Yao Tong, Bing-Nan Guo· Frontiers in Public Health· 0 citations
China has invested heavily in air pollution control in recent years, yet comprehensive assessments of the associated health economic benefits remain limited. Prior research on the health economic benefits of air pollution control has mainly focused on mortality outcomes and PM2.5, which may substantially underestimates...
