Ex-Smokers’ Gain May Soon Be Loss

Fear of weight gain keeps many smokers puffing away. Women in particular cite it as an obstacle to quitting. But post-smoking weight gain appears to be temporary, researchers reported recently in the American Journal of Public Health.

Weight seems to level off after two years of not smoking and then decrease, say Dr. Yue Chen, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan and his colleagues.

His team analyzed the weights of 1,633 people: 722 nonsmokers, 438 ex-smokers and 473 smokers. Ex-smokers weighed more than smokers and nonsmokers. But the ex-smokers’ weights decreased with increasing years of not smoking.

After two smoke-free years, ex-smokers were no more likely to be obese than nonsmokers, Chen says. He speculates that ex-smokers substitute food initially and at the two-year mark become more used to quitting and decrease food intake.

“This might be good news for those who tolerate weight gain, but not ex-smokers terrified of it,” says Nina Schneider, UCLA associate research psychologist and smoking-cessation expert.

Smokers very fearful of weight gain, she says, would consider two years an eternity. Instead of patience, Schneider recommends they consider longer-term use of nicotine replacement or exercise to minimize gain.