The effect of retirement on obesity in women: Evidence from China.

Introduction: Retirement has been shown to impact individual health as an important life course, and we examined the impact of retirement on the prevalence of obesity in women based on a female perspective. Methods: We use data from the five waves of the China Family Panel Study (CFPS) data from 2010 to 2018, with the body mass index (BMI) as the obesity measure. Fuzzy regression discontinuity design (FRDD) is used to overcome the endogeneity of retirement behavior and obesity. Results: After retirement, the obesity rate among women increased 23.8%-27.4% (p < 0.05). The mechanism is that the activity consumption has not changed significantly, but the energy intake has increased significantly. In addition, we found that the effect of retirement on female obesity was strong heterogeneity. Conclusions: The study found that retirement will increase the probability of obesity in women.

A study on the impact of Internet use on depression among Chinese older people under the perspective of social participation.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the role of social participation in the relationship between internet use and depressive symptoms among Chinese older adults and investigate how the internet use interact with social participation to reduce the risk of depressive symptoms. METHODS: Based on the survey from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2018, we identified 4645 subjects and used the Ordinary Least Square method (OLS) and Propensity Score Matching method (PSM) to identify the association between Internet use and depression of older people, and further test how social participation played a role in the relationship. RESULTS: The level of depression of older people was significantly reduced in those who using internet in China, and the effect was still robust under different identification methods. The mental health was improved when using internet because of the increase of social participation and social capital. Further, The positive effect was stronger especially in those who were female, living in rural areas, has low education attainments and were 70-79 years old. CONCLUSIONS: The popularity of internet use has a positive effect on the depressive symptoms of Chinese older adults. Effective measures were encouraged to improve the friendliness of internet for older people and promote the popularization of the Internet and older group, achieving the spiritual well-being of them in the Internet society.

Volunteer Service and Well-Being of Older People in China.

Purpose: The social support theory suggested that involving older people in social activities could increase their level of social participation and interaction, which in turn improved their well-being. However, there has been a heated controversy about whether participating in volunteer services could enhance the well-being of older people, especially for the Chinese sample. Method: Based on the data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2013, this paper used an ordered probit model to examine the impact of older people's participation in volunteer services on their well-being, as well as the differences in the impact across groups and the specific transmission mechanism. Result: The empirical study found that Chinese older people's participation in volunteerism significantly enhanced their well-being, which remained robust after eliminating the possible effects of self-selection. Further heterogeneity analysis revealed that for female, non-party members and older adults with good economic status, participation in volunteerism has a higher increase in well-being. The mediating effect test indicated that older people's participation in volunteerism affected well-being mainly through enhancing positive emotions. Conclusion: It is necessary to promote the participation of older people in volunteer services and to clarify the role of government support and advocacy. Proper guidance is given to change the role of older people as care recipients to that of service providers and caregivers, and to continuously enrich the programmes and content of volunteer service to safeguard the well-being of older people.