Unanticipated benefits: left-behind peers and improved health in rural Chinese classrooms

Utilizing the random assignment of students to classes within middle schools from the China Education Panel Survey, this study investigates the peer effects of left-behind children on their rural classmates. Our findings reveal an unexpected positive association: a higher proportion of left-behind children in a class improves the health of non-left-behind classmates, potentially linked to reduced consumption of junk foods and sugar-sweetened beverages among left-behind children. These results underscore the potential of fostering interactions between left-behind and non-left-behind students within the classroom as an effective and cost-efficient avenue for enhancing student health, particularly among boys. Policymakers and educators should also take into account this spillover effect when evaluating public policies, recognizing the broader impact on the overall well-being of the student population.