Relationship between weight change and the reduction or cessation of cigarette smoking

To determine the relationship between body weight and reduction or cessation of cigarette smoking, body weight and height as well as serum thiocyanate concentration were measured in 107 persons before and after participation in smoking-cessation programs. Body weight increased in only 67.3 percent of cases, but increases in body weight were associated with the greater reduction in cigarette consumption while the absence of weight gain was associated with a small reduction in cigarette consumption. Body weight increases after participation in the program were significantly (P less than 0.05) greater in men than in women despite the absence of a significant difference in the reduction of cigarette consumption between men and women. Analysis of variance failed to show a significant deviation from linearity in the significant relationship between reduction in tobacco consumption and increase in body weight. A number of variables assessed at entry into the study, such as age, age at starting smoking, cigarette consumption, initial body weight or anxiety level (Manifest Anxiety Scale) did not correlate with the change in weight in men or women. These data suggest that the most important determinant of weight gain is the amount of reduction in cigarette consumption and that there are important sex differences in response of body weight to reduction of tobacco consumption.