Smoking Cessation and Severity of Weight Gain in a National Cohort

Abstract

Abstract Background. Many believe that the prospect of weight gain discourages smokers from quitting. Accurate estimates of the weight gain related to the cessation of smoking in the general population are not available, however. Methods. We related changes in body weight to changes in smoking status in adults 25 to 74 years of age who were weighed in the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I, 1971 to 1975) and then weighed a second time in the NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study (1982 to 1984). The cohort included continuing smokers (748 men and 1137 women) and those who had quit smoking for a year or more (409 men and 359 women). Results. The mean weight gain attributable to the cessation of smoking, as adjusted for age, race, level of education, alcohol use, illnesses related to change in weight, base-line weight, and physical activity, was 2.8 kg in men and 3.8 kg in women. Major weight gain (>13 kg) occurred in 9.8 percent of the men and 13.4 percent of the women who qui...