Female Adolescent’s Perceptions of Tobacco and Weight Control

Principal Investigator
Cam Wild

Project Overview
Female Adolescent’s Perceptions of Tobacco and Weight Control explores the impressions of adolescent girls about using smoking as a weight control strategy.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two groups of adolescent female participants: (1) current and former smokers, and, (2) non-smokers in November, 2005. Participants were recruited purposively from an Edmonton Boys and Girls Club. The study relied on a convenience sample comprised of participants who self-selected their participation. A total of 14 adolescent women between the ages of 15-19 years old participated in the study.

Transcripts of the interviews were analysed from a grounded theory approach using constant comparative method. Nine themes emerged representing participants’ understanding of how women and girls associate smoking and weight gain or loss: 1) cigarettes as a meal replacement, 2) cigarettes as an appetite suppressant, 3) cigarettes as a reason for fat retention, 4) smoking as a chemical reaction to aid weight loss, 5) cigarettes as destroying taste buds, 6) cigarettes as making one too lazy to eat anything, 7) cigarettes as making one too lazy to be active, 8) cigarettes as negatively impacting athletic abilities, and 9) cigarettes as aiding in psychologically-attributed weight loss.

Conclusions (1) Adolescent females’ ‘lay conceptions’ are that individual differences in metabolism determine whether smoking leads to weight loss or gain through its influence on food intake and activity level. (2) concerns about social acceptability and the role of personal choice strongly influence disclosure patterns regarding the smoking and weight control relationship.

Time Frame
2005-2006

Funding Agencies
New Emerging Team grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism, and Diabetes and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada