Characteristics associated with excessive weight gain after smoking cessation in men.
OBJECTIVE
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.
Health Sciences Program, SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif. 94025.
G E
GE
Swan
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Carmelli
D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D015430:Weight Gain