Weight gain counters benefits of quitting smoking on lung function
Preventing weight gain after smoking cessation could maximise the beneficial effects of quitting on lung function, according to a study published this month (Lancet 2005;365:1629).
Susan Chinn, department of public health sciences, King’s College
London, and colleagues investigated the net effect of smoking cessation
and the independent effects of smoking and weight change on lung function.
The study involved 6,654 participants who each completed a questionnaire
on smoking habits and had their lung function and weight measured in
1991–93, and again in 1998–2002.
The net effect of quitting smoking on decline in lung function — the
difference between quitters and smokers — was similar for men and
women; however, the effect of weight gain on lung function was greater
in men. The researchers calculated that the benefit of quitting on lung
function is diminished by 38 per cent in men and 17 per cent in women
when either gains 1kg per year.
“
Our results strongly support inclusion of a weight reduction intervention
as part of randomised controlled trials of smoking cessation,” the
researchers conclude. |
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