By Laura Kennedy, Contributing Writer
Health Behavior News Service
When smokers kick the habit, they may gain about 20 pounds,
according to a new analysis — quite a bit more than the commonly
cited 5 pounds to 15 pounds.
“The findings highlight the need to provide effective dietary and
physical activity counseling along with smoking cessation programs,”
say study authors Daniel Eisenberg of the University of Michigan and
Brian Quinn of the University of California, Berkeley.
The authors are quick to emphasize that this finding in no
way changes the bottom line that the net health benefit of
quitting is substantial. The study appears in the latest
issue of Health Services Research.
The authors suggest that earlier studies overlooked key
personality differences between quitters and smokers — such
as general concern for health or ability to focus on
long-term goals — that could influence the likelihood of
gaining weight.
They reanalyzed data from the Lung Health Study, in which
5,887 American smokers were randomly assigned to either a
smoking cessation program or usual care and then followed
for five years. The authors of the 1998 study had estimated
that quitters gained nearly 12 pounds.
Using a complex statistical method that allowed them to
compare “apples to apples” in the two groups, Eisenberg and
Quinn found that average weight gain actually topped 21
pounds. They recommend that future trials incorporate the
new analytical approach when appropriate.
The authors said that the Lung Health Study excluded
morbidly obese smokers and did not report racial and ethnic
information. Thus the results should be applied with caution
to broad population groups.
The larger-than-expected weight gain among ex-smokers is not
just a cosmetic issue, said Robert Klesges at the University
of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis and St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital. “We’re talking about a
population of U.S. adults that is already overweight and
obese. Incorporating weight control strategies is important
to prevent future medical problems.”
Klesges called for more studies on methods to reduce weight
gain following smoking cessation, especially those that
combine behavioral and pharmacological approaches. Some new
drugs on the horizon may help with both smoking cessation
and weight loss, he said.
Smokers
pile on 15 to 20 pounds after quitting