Obesity is a global epidemic costing billions of dollars and millions of deaths. Roughly 79% of overweight children under five live in middle-income countries, where only about half of the households have access to piped water at home. This study exploits a social experiment that encourages connection to piped water in the city of Tangiers and finds an unintended effect: a large reduction in children’s overweight rate. It also finds evidence of several potential channels: a reduction in the cost of water, an increase in available time, in particular to perform household chores, and a reduction in stress levels.

中文翻译：

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家庭自来水对儿童超重率的意外影响：来自摩洛哥城市的实验证据

肥胖是一种全球流行病，造成数十亿美元的损失和数百万人的死亡。大约 79% 的五岁以下超重儿童生活在中等收入国家，这些国家只有大约一半的家庭能够在家中使用自来水。这项研究利用了一项社会实验，鼓励丹吉尔市使用自来水，并发现了意想不到的效果：儿童超重率大幅降低。它还发现了几个潜在渠道的证据：水费的降低、可用时间的增加（特别是做家务的时间）以及压力水平的降低。