Short-term weight gain in abstaining women smokers

Although most studies of weight gain following smoking cessation assess lon g-term change, weight gain during the critical period immediately following cessation may be more salient to the smoker for whom fear of weight gain c onstitutes a serious barrier to cessation. The current study examined weigh t change in 20 highly dependent women smokers provided with monetary incent ives to abstain for 1 week. along with concomitant changes in cotinine. Abs taining smokers (n = 7) gained 3.1 pounds, compared with 0.3 pounds in wome n who continued to smoke (n = 13). Across all subjects, change was signific antly negatively correlated with final plasma cotinine concentration and ma rginally negatively correlated with percent cotinine reduction. Weight gain in women abstainers in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle exceeded th at in women abstainers in the follicular phase; a significant interaction s uch that continuing smokers showed no phase-related differences in weight s uggests that the effect was not an artifact of perimenstrual increases in e ating or fluid retention. Although long-term weight gain has been shown to be positively associated with success in quitting, little is known about th e effects of short-term weight gain. Since many weight-concerned individual s either do not attempt to quit or terminate their quit at tempts very earl y it may be that if weight gain can be postponed beyond the first few fragi le days of cessation, women with strong weight concerns may actually be goo d candidates for success. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserve d.