What do smoking, urban sprawl, working women and prepared foods have to do with obesity?

A new Baker Institute study reviews the research aiming to explain the upward trend in obesity. The conclusion: that anti-smoking policies, increased urban sprawl, more women in the workforce and the growth of prepared foods at home all play roles in this important area of public health.

The authors of the study, Michael Grossman, Ph.D., of City University of New York Graduate Center, and Naci Mocan, Ph.D., Ourso Distinguished Chair of Economics at Louisiana State University, discuss their findings in this Feb. 24, 2011, commentary in the Houston Chronicle, “Efforts to control obesity have benefits — and costs.”

You can also download and read a copy of their paper here.

What do think? Do the study’s findings surprise you?