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Abstract

Objective: To examine the association between weight control and tobacco use in young women. Methods: Smoking status and weight and eating related issues, endorsement of the belief “smoking helps to control weight”, dieting status (DEBQ-R), current and ideal weight and current height were assessed in 144 students. Results: Smoker (S) restrained eaters (RE) scored higher on dietary restraint than nonsmoker (NS) RE. In the smoking questionnaire, S-RE selected a significantly higher number of items concerning hunger, eating and weight than S unrestrained eaters (URE). S-RE had a greater level of endorsement of the belief: “smoking helps to control weight” than NS-URE. The subjects who marked those items had significantly higher scores in the DEBQ-R and were more likely to be RE than those who marked none of them. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that among young women who smoke and diet there might be a risk group that smokes as a weight control strategy.

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Correspondence to Monica Facchini MD.

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Facchini, M., Rozensztejn, R. & González, C. Smoking and weight control behaviors. Eat Weight Disord 10, 1–7 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03353412

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