Ashlesha Datar
Biographic Data
| ID | 1735586 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ashlesha Datar |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ashlesha |
| FAMILY NAME | Datar |
| SIGNATURE | DATAR A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Southern California |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8526-8804 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 108 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Community Social Cohesion During a Large Public Housing and Neighborhood Redevelopment
Public housing redevelopments can disrupt community members' sense of belonging and attachment to their neighborhood, in large part due to resident displacement and gentrification. Recent public housing redevelopment efforts seek to mitigate these adverse changes, but evidence of their association with community social cohesion is limited. The current mixed methods study examines community social cohesion from different perspectives during a larg…
Place effects on adult obesity and cardiometabolic health
Heterogeneity in Covid-19 vaccine uptake within low-income minority communities
There are sizeable racial and ethnic COVID-19 vaccination disparities even within low-income and minoritized communities. Accounting for this heterogeneity and its correlates can be critically important for public health efforts to ensure vaccine equity
Heterogeneity in place effects on health
Heterogeneity in grocery shopping patterns among low-income minority women in public housing
There was considerable variability in grocery shopping patterns, even within this low-income, minority community despite access to the same neighborhood food environment. Convenience and quality, in addition to price, were priorities for choice of primary grocery store, and differences by race/ethnicity suggest that initiatives to improve the neighborhood food environment should consider quality of food, cultural factors, and availability of food…
Food Choices in the Context of Globalizing Food Options among Adolescents in Rural Southern India
Changes in food choice often accompany globalization and economic growth. These changes have not been well documented in rural settings and among young people. To advance research on food choice, we demonstrate adolescents' selection of local vs.non-local foods in a rural area of India where globalization is just reaching. A representative sample of 237 school-going adolescents in a village in Southern India completed a survey in 2019 to understa…
Ambient air pollution and children’s cognitive outcomes
The more the heavier? Family size and childhood obesity in the U.S
Neighborhood and home food environment and children's diet and obesity
Maternal work and children's diet, activity, and obesity
The impact of natural disasters on child health and investments in rural India
Junk Food in Schools and Childhood Obesity
Despite limited empirical evidence, there is growing concern that junk food availability in schools has contributed to the childhood obesity epidemic. In this paper, we estimate the effects of junk food availability on BMI, obesity, and related outcomes among a national sample of fifth-graders. Unlike previous studies, we address the endogeneity of the school food environment by controlling for children's BMI at school entry and estimating instru…
Outsourcing Meals
Maternal work may affect how mothers allocate time toward activities related to children’s diet and overall well-being. One potential consequence is that mothers may outsource meal preparation. In particular, school meals might replace brown-bag meals because they are subsidized, convenient, and nutritionally regulated. This study examines whether increases in maternal work influence children’s school breakfast and lunch participation, addressing…
Endowments and parental investments in infancy and early childhood
This article tests whether parents reinforce or compensate for child endowments. We estimate how the difference in birth weight across siblings impacts specific parental investments: breast-feeding, well-baby visits, immunizations, and preschool attendance. Our results indicate that normal-birth-weight children are 5%–11% more likely to receive early childhood parental investments than their low-birth-weight siblings. Moreover, the presence of ad…
Birth Weight Effects on Children’s Mental, Motor, and Physical Development
Body mass index in elementary school children, metropolitan area food prices and food outlet density
The impact of kindergarten entrance age policies on the childcare needs of families
The past two decades have seen a rising trend in the minimum entrance age for kindergarten in the U.S. A little‐noticed, but potentially large, consequence of raising the minimum entrance age is that it imposes additional childcare costs for families whose children are forced to stay out of school for an additional year. This paper develops a model for parents' kindergarten entrance age decisions and examines the relationship between socio‐econom…
Physical Education in Elementary School and Body Mass Index
Objectives. We examined the effect of physical education instruction time on body mass index (BMI) change in elementary school. Methods. We examined data from a national sample of 9751 kindergartners in the United States who were reported on for 2 years. We used a difference-in-differences approach to examine the effect of an increase in physical education instruction time between kindergarten and first grade on the difference in BMI change in th…
Endowments and parental investments in infancy and early childhood
This article tests whether parents reinforce or compensate for child endowments. We estimate how the difference in birth weight across siblings impacts specific parental investments: breast-feeding, well-baby visits, immunizations, and preschool attendance. Our results indicate that normal-birth-weight children are 5%–11% more likely to receive early childhood parental investments than their low-birth-weight siblings. Moreover, the presence of ad…
The impact of natural disasters on child health and investments in rural India
Maternal work and children's diet, activity, and obesity
Physical Education in Elementary School and Body Mass Index
Objectives. We examined the effect of physical education instruction time on body mass index (BMI) change in elementary school. Methods. We examined data from a national sample of 9751 kindergartners in the United States who were reported on for 2 years. We used a difference-in-differences approach to examine the effect of an increase in physical education instruction time between kindergarten and first grade on the difference in BMI change in th…
Junk Food in Schools and Childhood Obesity
Despite limited empirical evidence, there is growing concern that junk food availability in schools has contributed to the childhood obesity epidemic. In this paper, we estimate the effects of junk food availability on BMI, obesity, and related outcomes among a national sample of fifth-graders. Unlike previous studies, we address the endogeneity of the school food environment by controlling for children's BMI at school entry and estimating instru…
Neighborhood and home food environment and children's diet and obesity
Ambient air pollution and children’s cognitive outcomes
The more the heavier? Family size and childhood obesity in the U.S
Outsourcing Meals
Maternal work may affect how mothers allocate time toward activities related to children’s diet and overall well-being. One potential consequence is that mothers may outsource meal preparation. In particular, school meals might replace brown-bag meals because they are subsidized, convenient, and nutritionally regulated. This study examines whether increases in maternal work influence children’s school breakfast and lunch participation, addressing…
The impact of kindergarten entrance age policies on the childcare needs of families
The past two decades have seen a rising trend in the minimum entrance age for kindergarten in the U.S. A little‐noticed, but potentially large, consequence of raising the minimum entrance age is that it imposes additional childcare costs for families whose children are forced to stay out of school for an additional year. This paper develops a model for parents' kindergarten entrance age decisions and examines the relationship between socio‐econom…
Physical Education in Elementary School and Body Mass Index
Objectives. We examined the effect of physical education instruction time on body mass index (BMI) change in elementary school. Methods. We examined data from a national sample of 9751 kindergartners in the United States who were reported on for 2 years. We used a difference-in-differences approach to examine the effect of an increase in physical education instruction time between kindergarten and first grade on the difference in BMI change in th…
Body mass index in elementary school children, metropolitan area food prices and food outlet density
The impact of kindergarten entrance age policies on the childcare needs of families
The past two decades have seen a rising trend in the minimum entrance age for kindergarten in the U.S. A little‐noticed, but potentially large, consequence of raising the minimum entrance age is that it imposes additional childcare costs for families whose children are forced to stay out of school for an additional year. This paper develops a model for parents' kindergarten entrance age decisions and examines the relationship between socio‐econom…
Birth Weight Effects on Children’s Mental, Motor, and Physical Development
Endowments and parental investments in infancy and early childhood
This article tests whether parents reinforce or compensate for child endowments. We estimate how the difference in birth weight across siblings impacts specific parental investments: breast-feeding, well-baby visits, immunizations, and preschool attendance. Our results indicate that normal-birth-weight children are 5%–11% more likely to receive early childhood parental investments than their low-birth-weight siblings. Moreover, the presence of ad…
Junk Food in Schools and Childhood Obesity
Despite limited empirical evidence, there is growing concern that junk food availability in schools has contributed to the childhood obesity epidemic. In this paper, we estimate the effects of junk food availability on BMI, obesity, and related outcomes among a national sample of fifth-graders. Unlike previous studies, we address the endogeneity of the school food environment by controlling for children's BMI at school entry and estimating instru…
Outsourcing Meals
Maternal work may affect how mothers allocate time toward activities related to children’s diet and overall well-being. One potential consequence is that mothers may outsource meal preparation. In particular, school meals might replace brown-bag meals because they are subsidized, convenient, and nutritionally regulated. This study examines whether increases in maternal work influence children’s school breakfast and lunch participation, addressing…
The impact of natural disasters on child health and investments in rural India
Maternal work and children's diet, activity, and obesity
Neighborhood and home food environment and children's diet and obesity
The more the heavier? Family size and childhood obesity in the U.S
Ambient air pollution and children’s cognitive outcomes
Heterogeneity in place effects on health
Heterogeneity in grocery shopping patterns among low-income minority women in public housing
There was considerable variability in grocery shopping patterns, even within this low-income, minority community despite access to the same neighborhood food environment. Convenience and quality, in addition to price, were priorities for choice of primary grocery store, and differences by race/ethnicity suggest that initiatives to improve the neighborhood food environment should consider quality of food, cultural factors, and availability of food…
Food Choices in the Context of Globalizing Food Options among Adolescents in Rural Southern India
Changes in food choice often accompany globalization and economic growth. These changes have not been well documented in rural settings and among young people. To advance research on food choice, we demonstrate adolescents' selection of local vs.non-local foods in a rural area of India where globalization is just reaching. A representative sample of 237 school-going adolescents in a village in Southern India completed a survey in 2019 to understa…
Heterogeneity in Covid-19 vaccine uptake within low-income minority communities
There are sizeable racial and ethnic COVID-19 vaccination disparities even within low-income and minoritized communities. Accounting for this heterogeneity and its correlates can be critically important for public health efforts to ensure vaccine equity
Community Social Cohesion During a Large Public Housing and Neighborhood Redevelopment
Public housing redevelopments can disrupt community members' sense of belonging and attachment to their neighborhood, in large part due to resident displacement and gentrification. Recent public housing redevelopment efforts seek to mitigate these adverse changes, but evidence of their association with community social cohesion is limited. The current mixed methods study examines community social cohesion from different perspectives during a larg…
Place effects on adult obesity and cardiometabolic health
Medicine (16 works) · Environmental health (13 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Obesity (10 works) · Demography (9 works) · Economics (9 works) · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet (8 works) · Demography (7 works) · Economic growth (6 works) · Geography (6 works)