Body weight and smoking initiation: Evidence from Add Health

In volume 23, issue 2 of this journal, Cawley, Markowitz and Tauras used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Cohort to estimate the relationship between body weight and smoking initiation. Using maternal obesity status as an instrument, they found strong evidence that overweight females between the ages of 12 and 21 were more likely to initiate smoking. Drawing on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we reexamine the relationship between body weight and smoking initiation. Our results are generally consistent with those of Cawley, Markowitz and Tauras.