Scientists publishing new research through the National Bureau of Economic Research have concluded that quitting smoking is the biggest quantifiable cause of obesity.
In a working paper released Monday morning, Charles Baum of Middle Tennessee State University and Shin Yi-Chou of Lehigh University in Pennsylvania found that a decrease in the average number of cigarettes smoked per person in America likely causes an increase in obesity.
Referring to the Body-Mass Index, a crude but common obesity measurement, the researchers write: “We find that cigarette smoking has the largest effect: The decline in cigarette smoking explains about 2 percent of the increase in the weight measures. The other significant factors explain less.”
Other variables Baum and Yi-Chou compared include food stamp enrollment, the physical demands of people at work and urban sprawl. Urbanization and food stamps were both related to obesity, but not nearly as much as the nationwide decrease in smoking in recent years.
Though they found continuing or starting smoking helps curb obesity, Baum and Yi-Chou aren’t suggesting people should smoke.
“No one recommends cigarette smoking (or higher cigarette taxes) as a means to combat obesity,” the economists wrote.
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