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Smoking status, cigarettes per day, and their relationship to overweight and obesity among former and current smokers in a national adult general population sample

International Journal of Obesity volume 29, pages 1289–1294 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Weight gain after smoking cessation is perceived to be a barrier against quitting smoking. The goal was to analyze overweight and obesity depending on smoking status and number of cigarettes per day (cpd) among former and current smokers.

METHODS:

The sample included 7124 residents of Germany aged 18–79 y from a national health examination survey (participation rate: 61.4%). Body weight and height were objectively measured; smoking status and cpd were assessed by a questionnaire administered in a health examination center.

RESULTS:

The number of cpd was positively related to being overweight and more so to obesity among former smoking men, but not women. The results were adjusted for age, school education, exercise and alcohol consumption. Men who formerly had smoked more than 30 cpd had an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 5.0 for obesity compared to men who had never smoked.

CONCLUSION:

With an increasing number of cpd more psychological and physiological processes of compensation of nicotine supply after smoking cessation may be expected. Male smokers should be provided with information on how to prevent weight gain after smoking cessation. To foster smoking cessation, female smokers should be informed that women who stop smoking manage to have no increase in the rates of overweight or obesity when considered at the general population level.

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Acknowledgements

The work done has been funded by grants of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Grant 01 EB 9406), the Social Ministry of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and the Krupp-von-Bohlen-and-Halbach foundation. The data file was provided from the Robert-Koch-Institute of the German Federal Ministry of Health and Social Security.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

    U John, M Hanke & J R Thyrian

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany

    H-J Rumpf

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  1. U John
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Correspondence to U John.

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John, U., Hanke, M., Rumpf, HJ. et al. Smoking status, cigarettes per day, and their relationship to overweight and obesity among former and current smokers in a national adult general population sample. Int J Obes 29, 1289–1294 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803028

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