Ex-smokers gain up to 5kg after quitting

[Posted: Wed 11/07/2012 by Gillian Tsoi www.irishhealth.com]

People who quit smoking typically gain between four and five kilograms, new research has shown.

A team of experts from England and France have discovered that ex-smokers gain an average of 4-5kg (9-11lb) in the 12 months after quitting.

This is significantly more than the "inaccurate" 2.9kg usually quoted by health information leaflets.

The researchers reviewed 62 previously published studies of weight gain after giving up smoking.

The found that a year after giving up, 16% of the quitters actually lost weight compared with when they smoked.

However, 37% put on up to 5kg, while 34% gained 5-10kg in weight. Almost one person in seven (13%) tipped the scales by at least 10kg.

About half of the ex-smokers gained 1-8kg.

Most of the weight was gained in the first three months after quitting.

People who give up smoking put on weight because they are no longer inhaling the nicotine in cigarettes, which acts as an appetite suppressant. They usually find their appetite increasing in the absence of nicotine.

In the study, the ex-smokers who kicked the habit using nicotine replacement therapy, such as patches, gained slightly less weight after a year (4.5kg) than those who relied solely on willpower (4.7kg).

Those who used the drug Zyban to help with quitting gained 4.8kg, while those who used the rival drug Champix gained 5.3kg.

"The finding of a mean weight gain of 4.7kg in untreated quitters at one year after cessation is substantially higher than the 2.9kg often quoted in smoking cessation advice leaflets," the study report says.

According to the report, this discovery may deter people, particularly women, from trying to quit smoking because, as they are prepared to accept gaining no more than 2.3kg as a result of giving up the habit.

The research was published online in the British Medical Journal.

marmar  Posted: 14/07/2012 22:23

Have too say, I lost 1/2 stone when I quit 2 years ago :). No patches or tablets used.!!

tomboy  Posted: 16/07/2012 11:20

I know someone who gained 5 stone and more after packing up the cigarettes! He's like a whale now!

marmar  Posted: 16/07/2012 12:16

Just to add. It took 10 day in ccu 5 blockages in three main archreys and five stents. To make me stop smoking, at age 48. So I stopped doing something that was killing me.!!!

devil\'s advocate  Posted: 17/07/2012 15:56

My husband had two blockages and has two stents in and never smoked a day in his life. More than likely hereditary they said or he is carrying too much weight.

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