Weight Gain as a Function of Smoking Cessation and 2-Mg Nicotine Gum Use Among Middle-Aged Smokers With Mild Lung Impairment in the First 2 Years of the Lung Health Study

• Published in: Health psychology 1994-07, Vol.13 (4), p.354-361
• Main Authors: Nides, Mitchell, Rand, Cynthia, Dolce, Jeff, Murray, Robert, O'Hara, Peggy, Voelker, Helen, Connett, John
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Body Weight; Cessation; Cholinergic Agonists - therapeutic use; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Followup Studies; Human; Human Sex Differences; Humans; Lung Diseases, Obstructive - rehabilitation; Lung Disorders; Male; Middle Aged; Middle aged people; Nicotine; Nicotine - analogs & derivatives; Nicotine - therapeutic use; Polymethacrylic Acids - therapeutic use; Polyvinyls - therapeutic use; Regression Analysis; Risk Factors; Sex Factors; Smoking; Smoking Cessation; Smoking Cessation - psychology; Tobacco Use Cessation Products; Weight Control; Weight Gain
• ISSN: 0278-6133; 1930-7810
• DOI: 10.1037/0278-6133.13.4.354

The extent and predictors of weight change were assessed among sustained nonsmoking special intervention participants in the Lung Health Study. The intervention included a 12-session group program and 2-mg nicotine gum. At 12 months, female sustained quitters (SQs; n = 248) had gained a mean of 8.4% (5.3 kg) of their baseline weight, whereas male SQs ( n = 443) had gained 6.7% (5.5 kg). By 24 months, female SQs had gained 9.8% of their baseline weight compared with 6.9% for men. Nicotine gum usage delayed a portion of the weight gain. Multiple regression analysis showed that weight gain at 12 months was associated with a higher baseline salivary cotinine level, a lower baseline body mass index, drinking less alcohol per week, and a lower cotinine level at 12 months (indicating less or no nicotine gum use). We conclude that moderate weight gain is a long-term consequence of smoking cessation-a portion of which can be delayed with 2-mg nicotine gum.