Weight concerns, postexperimental smoking, and perceived difficulty in quitting in Argentinean adolescents

PURPOSE: To assess the relationship among weight concerns, smoking, and perceived difficulty in quitting among Argentinean adolescents. METHODS: Logistic regression and profile analyses, stratified by sex, were used to estimate the associations among 8th and 11th grade students (n=2524). RESULTS: Weight concerns were associated with current smoking status and also with perceived quitting difficulty among female, but not male, Argentinean high school students. Profile analyses determined parallel profiles of weight concerns between female smokers and nonsmokers and between male smokers and nonsmokers. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of weight concerns among adolescent females may require special consideration in smoking prevention and cessation programs.