Young women quitting smoking may do better with group counseling than exercise

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Efforts to quit smoking are often hampered by fear of gaining weight, especially among young women. That’s why exercise is frequently touted as not only a way to help combat cravings, but also keep pounds at bay. But is it the best approach?

Maybe not, according to a new study that asked young women about their smoking habits, then devised two smoking cessation programs to see which one was more effective.

The first phase of the study consisted of setting up five focus groups with 43 college-age women to better understand their behavior around smoking. Researchers found that the women smoked for social and body image reasons and to cope with stress, and wanted information relayed electronically as part of their treatment.

In the second phase, 24 female college-age students were randomly divided into two groups: a supervised group exercise program, or group counseling sessions focusing on body image. Women in both groups also received a nicotine patch. After eight weeks, the counseling group had more than twice the rate of smoking cessation as the exercise group, 18% versus 8%. The counseling group also lost more weight -- 3.3 pounds versus less than a pound for the exercise group. Information was sent to the study participants via e-mail and text messages, as the women preferred.

‘A lot of college-age women report smoking to keep their weight down and for body image reasons,’ said Melissa Napolitano, lead author of the study, via a release. The clinical psychologist at Temple University’s Center for Obesity Research and Education, added, ‘We think that by providing them with the tools to make them feel better about themselves, it alleviates some of those stressors.’

The study was presented at this week’s annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in Montreal.

-- Jeannine Stein

Photo credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images