Willingness of female smokers to tolerate postcessation weight gain.

When asked how much weight they would be willing to gain if they quit smoking, women smokers replied 5.0 +/- 5.8 pounds (2.3 +/- 2.6 kg), compared with 10.7 +/- 7.6 pounds (4.9 +/- 3.5 kg) for men. Seventy-five percent of women, vs. 35% of men, were unwilling to gain more than 5 pounds (2.3 kg). White women were willing to gain 4.2 +/- 4.5 pounds (1.9 +/- 2.0 kg) compared with 11.1 +/- 10.7 pounds (5.0 +/- 4.9 kg) for Black women. In women under 25 years of age, 57% were unwilling to gain any weight at all, but even among women older than 40, 39% were unwilling to gain weight. Willingness to gain was negatively correlated with Body Mass Index, but even among nonoverweight women, 33% were unwilling to gain weight. Similarly, willingness to gain was negatively correlated with restrained eating, but even among low-restraint women, 22% were unwilling to gain weight. These findings suggest that unwillingness to gain is endemic among female smokers, that success in persuading them to accept a gain of more than 5 pounds (2.3 kg) as a final outcome is unlikely, and that strategies for postponing gain until cessation is well established, combined with waiting until weight stabilizes before determining what weight-management measures are needed, may be more effective.