Association between adolescent body mass index and adulthood smoking

Citation

Fang, Michael (2018). Association between adolescent body mass index and adulthood smoking. Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

Abstract

IntroductionStudies increasingly find a prospective association between adolescent weight status and adverse physical health outcomes. However, less is known about the long-term consequences of adolescent body weight on the adoption of health-risk behaviors. This study sought to determine whether adolescent body mass index (BMI) was associated with cigarette smoking in adulthood.MethodsSix thousand six hundred eighty-three nonsmoking adolescents were interviewed at baseline (1996, age 11–20) and at follow-up (2008, age 24–32) as part of the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. Logistic and fractional regression models tested the association between adolescent BMI and smoking status and frequency in adulthood. Respondent weight and height were measured at baseline and converted into age and sex-specific BMI z-scores. Being a smoker was defined as smoking at least once in the past 30 days, while smoking frequency was defined as the proportion of days smoked over the past 30 days. Both outcomes were measured at follow-up.ResultsAdolescent BMI was positively associated with the transition from nonsmoking to smoking 12 years later for women but not men. Adolescent BMI was also positively associated with smoking frequency among women smokers. Both associations persisted after adjusting for established risk factors and were robust to sensitivity analyses.ConclusionsAdolescent BMI was strongly associated with increased cigarette smoking behavior in adulthood for women, even after adjusting for important risk factors.ImplicationsUsing a large, nationally representative sample, this study found that adolescent BMI was positively associated with smoking behavior during adulthood for women but not men. These results have potentially important public health implications for future smoking rates in the United States, as the prevalence of overweight and obesity among US adolescent females continues to grow. Thus, it may be important for smoking prevention interventions to prioritize overweight adolescent females moving forward.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ntr/nty183

Notes

10.1093/ntr/nty183

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

Nicotine & Tobacco Research

Author(s)

Fang, Michael

Year Published

2018

Edition

September 04, 2018

ISSN/ISBN

1462-2203

DOI

10.1093/ntr/nty183

Reference ID

9302