title: Weight gain as a barrier to smoking cessation among military personnel.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the relationships between active-duty military status, military weight standards, concern about weight gain, and anticipated relapse after smoking cessation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hospital-based tobacco cessation program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred fifty-two enrollees, of 253 eligible, to a tobacco cessation program in 1999 (135 men, 117 women; 43% on active duty in the military).
  
  
  METHODS
  Independent variables included gender, body mass index (weight/height2), and military status. Dependent variables included about weight gain with smoking cessation and anticipated relapse.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In multivariate regression analyses that controlled for gender and body mass index, active-duty military status was associated with an elevated level of concern about weight gain (1.9-point increase on a 10-point scale; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0- to 2.8-point increase), as well as higher anticipated relapse (odds ratio [OR] = 3.6; 95% CI, 1.3 to 9.8). Among subjects who were close to or over the U.S. Air Force maximum allowable weight for height, the analogous OR for active-duty military status was 6.9 (p = .02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Occupational weight standards or expectations may pose additional barriers for individuals contemplating or attempting smoking cessation, as they do among active-duty military personnel. These barriers are likely to hinder efforts to decrease smoking prevalence in certain groups.
authors.affiliation: Office of Prevention and Health Services Assessment, Population Health Support Division, Air Force Medical Operations Agency, 2602 Doolittle Road, Building 804, Brooks AFB, TX 78235-5249, USA.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Russ
authors.forename: V P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Blackman
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Robbins
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States; D015430:Weight Gain