Our research examines the effects of tobacco policies on teenagers’ physical activity. Smoking and physical activity are both strategies for weight management, and exercise may be a way to reduce some of the ill effects of smoking. These different links suggest that cigarette taxes could either increase or decrease physical activity. We explore this relationship using repeated cross-sectional 1991–2017 data from the national and state Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), combined with state-level policies and controls. Our smoking participation results confirm past work; cigarette taxes have a negative effect on smoking that has waned in recent years. The estimated effects of cigarette taxes on physical activity echo those of smoking; cigarette taxes decrease physical activity and, like smoking, these effects have waned recently. However, one likely avenue – sports participation – is unaffected. These results suggest that increased cigarette taxes lead to modest declines in teen physical activity, a finding consistent with youth using exercise to compensate for the health effects of smoking.

我们的研究探讨了烟草政策对青少年身体活动的影响。吸烟和体育活动都是体重管理的策略，而运动可能是减少吸烟不良影响的一种方法。这些不同的联系表明，香烟税可能会增加或减少体力活动。我们利用来自国家和州青少年风险行为监测系统（YRBSS）的 1991-2017 年重复横截面数据，结合州级政策和控制措施来探讨这种关系。我们的吸烟参与结果证实了过去的工作；卷烟税对吸烟的负面影响近年来有所减弱。卷烟税对身体活动的估计影响与吸烟的影响相呼应。香烟税会减少体力活动，并且与吸烟一样，这些影响最近已经减弱。然而，一种可能的途径——参与体育运动——并未受到影响。这些结果表明，增加卷烟税会导致青少年体力活动适度下降，这一发现与青少年利用锻炼来补偿吸烟对健康的影响是一致的。