RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OBESITY AND THE METABOLIC EFFECTS OF SMOKING IN WOMEN

The influence of cigarette smoking on resting energy expenditure (REE) in normal-weight and obese smokers was investigated. Participants wer e 20 normal-weight and 20 obese female smokers assessed over a 2-day p eriod. The results indicated that REE increased in both obese and norm al-weight smokers after smoking, but the increase was greater for norm al-weight participants. The normal-weight group showed a 9.7%, 5.8%, a nd a 3.6% increase in REE during the three 10-min blocks constituting the 30-min postsmoking phase. However, the obese group showed a 3.9% a nd a 0.7% increase in REE and a 0.8% decrease in REE during this posts moking phase. Between-group comparisons revealed a differential rate o f change in REE after smoking, indicating that the obese group's chang e of REE at every postsmoking time point was on average 70 kcal/day be low that of the normal-weight group. The metabolic effect of smoking i s reproducible, and the obese smokers reliably show an attenuated effe ct. However, the reliability of the change is lower for both normal-we ight and obese smokers. The results have potential implications for di scouraging obese persons from taking up smoking and intervening among those who already smoke.