G E Swan1, D Carmelli. 1. Health Sciences Program, SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif. 94025.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Data from two surveys of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council Twin Registry, conducted 16 years apart, were used to determine characteristics of individuals that were predictive of excessive weight gain after smoking cessation. METHODS: Over the follow-up, 2179 men quit smoking and averaged a weight gain of 3.5 kg. Quitters were grouped into four categories of weight change: lost weight, no change, gained weight, and excessive weight gain ("super-gainers"). RESULTS: In comparison with quitters reporting no change in weight, super-gainers were younger, were of lower socioeconomic status, and differed on a number of health habits before quitting (all Ps < .05). At follow-up, super-gainers reported changes in health habits that were significantly different from those seen in quitters reporting stable weight (all Ps < .05). Pairwise concordance for weight change in 146 monozygotic and 111 dizygotic twin pairs in which both twins quit smoking was significantly greater in monozygotic than dizygotic pairs (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that super-gainers differ in important ways from those who do not gain weight after smoking cessation and that these weight changes may be influenced by underlying genetic factors.
OBJECTIVES: Data from two surveys of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council Twin Registry, conducted 16 years apart, were used to determine characteristics of individuals that were predictive of excessive weight gain after smoking cessation. METHODS: Over the follow-up, 2179 men quit smoking and averaged a weight gain of 3.5 kg. Quitters were grouped into four categories of weight change: lost weight, no change, gained weight, and excessive weight gain ("super-gainers"). RESULTS: In comparison with quitters reporting no change in weight, super-gainers were younger, were of lower socioeconomic status, and differed on a number of health habits before quitting (all Ps < .05). At follow-up, super-gainers reported changes in health habits that were significantly different from those seen in quitters reporting stable weight (all Ps < .05). Pairwise concordance for weight change in 146 monozygotic and 111 dizygotic twin pairs in which both twins quit smoking was significantly greater in monozygotic than dizygotic pairs (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that super-gainers differ in important ways from those who do not gain weight after smoking cessation and that these weight changes may be influenced by underlying genetic factors.
Authors: Paul Y Geha; Katja Aschenbrenner; Jennifer Felsted; Stephanie S O'Malley; Dana M Small Journal: Am J Clin Nutr Date: 2012-12-12 Impact factor: 7.045