Source: Reuter

Teens think smoking is a diet aid, U.S. study says

LONDON (Reuter) Adolescents are at risk of becoming
habitual smokers because they believe cigarettes help to keep
them slim, U.S. reseachers reported Tuesday.
Robert Klesges of the Universities Prevention Center in
Memphis, Tenn. and colleagues said their survey of junior high
school students showed white girls seemed especially prone to
think smoking could help keep their weight down.
They surveyed 6,900 Memphis public school students with a
mean age of 13. Eighty percent were black, 16 percent white and
the rest of other races.
``Almost 40 percent of subjects at this school level
believed that smoking controls their body weight,'' they wrote
in a report in the British Medical Association journal Tobacco
Control.
``Of the regular smokers, 12 percent indicated they have
smoked to control their weight, with white girls endorsing this
belief significantly more than other respondents,'' they added.
``Among boys, the opposite is true: black boys are more
likely to express concern about diet and to endorse the belief
that smoking has weightsuppressing effects.''
Although they said the study was limited and needed to be
reproduced, they said the conclusion was clear: ``It appears
that white females are at high risk of smoking for weight
control across a wide age range.''
Smokers do often put on weight when they quit but their is
no evidence that smoking is useful for weight control, and it is
known to cause cancer, heart disease and other problems.