Smoking's Effects on Weight Minimal

Up to one third of university women who begin smoking do so in a misguided effort to lose weight. The tobacco industry even names cigarettes "thins" and "slims," trying to sway weight-conscious young women. But now a new study shows that for people under 30, smoking does not prevent age-related weight gain. A seven-year project followed almost 4,000 people age 18-10 and revealed no significant difference in the amount of weight gained by nonsmokers compared to those who smoked for all or part of the study length. -Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.