Socioeconomic Structures, Smoking and Obesity

by Richard Florida and Charlotta Mellander

Abstract:

Previous research has examined the relationship between socioeconomic status, demographic characteristics and the incidence of smoking and obesity. This study examines the effects of post-industrial economic structures and values on smoking and obesity. Our central hypothesis is that levels of both smoking and obesity will be lower in locations which are characterized by post-industrial structures characterized by higher shares of knowledge-based/ creative work and higher levels of education, and higher levels of post-industrial values associated with greater openness and tolerance to immigrants and to gay and lesbian populations. We test these relationships empirically across the 50 US states in statistical models that control for income, race and ethnicity and other factors that have previously been found to be associated with smoking and obesity. Our results suggest that smoking and obesity rates are significantly lower in states with higher levels of levels and higher proportions knowledge-based/creative jobs, even when we control for income or economic output measured as Gross State Product per capita. We further find that post-industrial values of openness and tolerance have a significant effect on state obesity rates, in addition to the effects of race. Overall, we find that post-industrial structures provide an important explanatory value for the distribution of smoking and obesity across the US states.

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