Physical Activity, Tobacco Policy and Obesity
This session contains three papers about the relationships between physical activity, tobacco policies and obesity. The first paper, “Do Smoking Bans Lead to Higher Levels of Obesity” uses state-level variation in smoking bans and data from the BRFSS to examine the effect of smoking bans on weight gain and obesity. Smoking bans could have unintended consequences of causing obesity. The results indicate that smoking bans are associated with higher obesity but the unintended consequences of the bans cannot be confirmed. The second paper, “Physical Activity, Obesity and Present Bias” develops and empirically tests a behavioral model of physical activity and obesity. The model contains two types of agents: consistent and stochastically present-biased agents. Present-biased agents procrastinate if a task has immediate costs and delayed rewards. Physical activity is such a task. The model can explain why some people always participate in physical activity but others participate sporadically. The model is tested using NHANES data to construct proxies of present-biasness based on smoking, drinking, and dental care habits. The third paper, “A Closer Look at Tobacco Policy and Physical Activity” extends Becker’s framework of longevity and health investments to analyze individual decisions about smoking and physical activity. Maintaining a healthy weight, engaging in regular exercise and not smoking are regarded as effective pathways to good health. However, it is not clear how individuals make decisions regarding these potentially complementary and compensating behaviors. The conceptual framework is evaluated empirically using data from both the ATUS and BRFSS.