Here's one way to kick smoking that is not widely known: Marry someone who will kick your butt. Apparently, US President Obama has been on the wagon for six years as far as smoking is concerned because he's scared of his wife Michelle Obama.

A candid camera and a hot mike caught the US President admitting this to human rights campaigner Maina Kiai on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Obama himself initiates the conversation by asking Kiai, "I hope you have quit smoking?" When Kiai mumbles, "Sometimes..." and appears to ask the president about his smoking, Obama says he only chews on nicotine gum now, and adds, "I haven't had a cigarette in probably six years."

"That's because I am scared of my wife," he chuckles.

The president's addiction to nicotine and his disciplinarian wife's attempt to stamp it out is well known. She has tried to get him to quit for several years and said recently that he quit smoking in 2010, although the rumor was he uses Nicorette gum to get over the craving.

The president's 2010 medical report noted that he still hadn't quit smoking completely and advised him to continue his smoking cessation efforts with the use of nicotine gum, especially since he was about to turn 50. Although his cholesterol levels were borderline high at that time, the basketball-loving president, who also golfs regularly, was otherwise in excellent health, except for some tendonitis in his left knee for which he was taking anti-inflammatory medication.

He has recently been panned for playing golf almost every weekend, even through major crises. But his outings have found support from his predecessor George W Bush. "I know the pressures of the job," Bush said. "And to be able to get outside and play golf with some of your pals is important for the president. It does give you an outlet." Bush himself quit playing golf during his presidency after receiving news of a terrorist attack in Iraq while on a course.

The Obamas are arguably the most health-conscious First Couple in White House history, with a string of initiatives, mainly from Michelle Obama, to push for a healthier nation: From improving school lunches and to growing one's own food. Her latest "Drink Up" campaign is aimed weaning the country away from the American staple of sugary colas to plain water. The initiative has attracted the wrath of conservatives who think such things should be a matter of personal choice. A liberal talk show host joked that conservatives see water as a "socialist juice."

Jokes aside, thoughtful Americans are worrying themselves sick about the country's healthcare expense – a staggering $2.5 trillion or more than 16 per cent of its GDP – some of it attributed to poor lifestyle choices. Public discourse on how to contain or reverse this is picking up.

Such vigorous debate is in sharp contrast to the apathy in geriatrics-led India – at the receiving end of western-exported colas and cigarettes – where the government has virtually abdicated responsibility for public health. The result is billions of dollars lost in health-related productivity. The WHO estimates that India loses more than $10 billion in productivity from heart disease and strokes alone.