Smoking Cessation and Changes in Body Mass Index Among Middle Aged and Older Adults.

TitleSmoking Cessation and Changes in Body Mass Index Among Middle Aged and Older Adults.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2018
AuthorsSharma, A
JournalJ Appl Gerontol
Volume37
Issue8
Pagination1012-1036
Date Published2018 08
ISSN Number1552-4523
KeywordsAged, Aged, 80 and over, Body Mass Index, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Models, Statistical, Smoking cessation, Weight Gain
Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study contributes to the body of literature examining smoking cessation and body mass index (BMI) for adults aged 50 and older.

METHOD: Utilizing the 2004 and 2010 waves of the RAND Health and Retirement Study, this analysis utilized Fixed Effects (FE) regression on a sample of 1,316 adults aged 50 and older.

RESULTS: Older adults undergo a small change in BMI after a transition from smoking to nonsmoking during a 6-year period, and this occurs after accounting for individual-level unobserved heterogeneity. More specifically, men experience a BMI gain of 1.24 ( p< .01) and women experience a BMI gain of 1.58 ( p< .01).

DISCUSSION: Gerontologists/health professionals can use these results to inform older adults about the potential for a small increase in BMI and, in the process, assuage any apprehensions about excessive weight gain. This insight may encourage a greater number of older adults to cease smoking.

URLhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27353834
DOI10.1177/0733464816655438
User Guide Notes

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27353834?dopt=Abstract

Alternate JournalJ Appl Gerontol
Citation Key8509
PubMed ID27353834