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1991.03.13 :  Report -- Smoking and Weight Gain

Contact: CDC Press Office (404) 639-3286
March 13, 1991

     Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control reported
today that the average U.S. adult who quits smoking gains only
seven pounds in the subsequent 10 years -- not the extreme gain
many smokers fear.
     The scientists stressed that the trade-off, in better
health, is well worth the few extra pounds.
     Following 10,000 adults during a 10-year period, 9 percent
of whom quit smoking during this time, the researchers found the
average body weight of quitters started at less than the average
weight of people who never smoked but that by the end of the 10-
year study, the average body weights of both groups were the
same.
     Only a small number of quitters, about 10 percent, gained
more than 30 pounds, an amount that would be considered extreme
by medical experts, Dr. David F. Williamson and others report in
the March 14 New England Journal of Medicine.  The authors said
their findings contradict the opinion held by many that if they
quit smoking, they will gain excessive amounts of weight.
     "You may be a smoker who has seen 10 friends quit smoking,"
Dr. Williamson explained, "and nine of them gained only a small
amount of weight.  If the tenth friend gained a lot of weight,
however, you'll probably only remember that friend's experience."
     Dr. Williamson said that the worst thing physicians and
others could do is to tell prospective quitters that they won't
gain any weight, as this is a set-up for failure.
     "These few pounds are a very small price to pay for major
improvements in life expectancy and general health," CDC Director
William Roper, M.D., said.
     Dr. Roper said, "The study demonstrates that the weight gain
caused by smoking cessation is modest.  In fact, many of us gain
six to eight pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's and then
lose it all by the end of January."
     HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., said, "Quitting
smoking is one of the most important and heroic things people can
do to improve their long-term health, reducing their chances of
cancer, sudden death from heart attack and stroke, and chronic,
debilitating lung problems.
     "If it means watching your diet and exercising a little
more, it's worth it."
     HHS Assistant Secretary for Health James O. Mason, M.D., who
heads the Public Health Service and sponsors and runs in the
annual (April 26) Parklawn Classic for Washington-area PHS
employees, put in a pitch for adding exercise to a smoke-ending
routine.  "With brisk walks or jogging combined with a diet low
in fat and high in fruit and vegetables, you can stop worrying
about weight gain -- and can reap additional health benefits,"
Dr. Mason said.

     The report's authors are epidemiologists at the CDC's Center
for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and CDC's
National Center for Health Statistics.  Besides Dr. Williamson,
they are Jennifer Madans, Robert F. Anda, Joel C. Kleinman, Gary
Giovino and Tim Byers.  Their analysis is based on data from the
Epidemiologic Follow-up to the first National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the National Center for
Health Statistics.

     CDC is part of the Public Health Service family of health
agencies within HHS.

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