Smokers who Quit Pack on the Pounds

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Smokers who quit may gain more weight than researchers once thought --about 20 pounds instead of 5 to 15 pounds.

The new study from the University of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley, is quick to stress the results do not change the bottom line -- quitting smoking has significant health benefits.

The authors say, "The findings highlight the need to provide effective dietary and physical activity counseling along with smoking cessation programs."

Researchers re-analyzed data from the Lung Health Study, which included 5,887 smokers. They used a complex statistical method to compare two groups of participants -- those in a smoking cessation program and those who received usual care. Results show the average weight gain was more than 21 pounds. The original study in 1988 estimated quitters gained about 12 pounds. The new results suggest previous research overlooked important personality differences between quitters and smokers that could influence the chances of gaining weight.

"We're talking about a population of U.S. adults that is already overweight and obese," reports Robert Klesges, of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. "Incorporating weight control strategies is important to prevent future medical problems."

Klesges says future drugs may help with both smoking cessation and weight loss. He wants to see more studies aimed at reducing weight gain after smoking cessation, especially those that use both behavioral and pharmacological methods.

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SOURCE: Health Services Research, published online June 30, 2006