Efeitos da Exposição aos Fatores de Risco Comportamentais à Saúde sobre o Atraso Escolar no Brasil*

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the role of exposure of students to behavioral risk factors to health - smoking, alcohol and overweight - in educational attainment in Brazil. We use microdata from the National Survey of School Health (Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde do Escolar-PENSE) 2012 and parametric and nonparametric techniques to estimate the effect of exposure to these factors in the indicator of delay in school progression of students in the 9th grade of elementary school. The main results indicate that exposure to risk factors has direct effect on delay in school progression. Furthermore, these effects are more intense for students with lower socioeconomic level. Then, the findings of this study suggest the importance of public policies that promote prevention of these risk factors among children, once the exposure to risk factors to health can generate repercussions not only in health but also in the educational component of human capital.