Off-farm employment and body mass index among agrarian women in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The relationship between employment and women's weight outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is less studied. In this study, we use nearest-neighbor matching to analyze the association between off-farm employment and women's body mass index (BMI), using data from 364,426 adult women from 36 SSA countries. We find that employment off-farm is associated with improvement in women's weight status. Off-farm employment is associated with higher BMI in women (by 1.6%), and lower BMI among obese and overweight women (by 28% and 16%, respectively). These findings provide information that could guide policymakers working at the intersection of women's health and employment.