Is smoking associated with lower body mass in adolescents? A large-scale biracial investigation

The present investigation evaluated the relationship between smoking and body weight (body mass index [BMI]) in a large, biracial sample of seventh-grade students. Participants were 6751 (5,607 African American, 1,144 White) seventh-grade students participating in an evaluation of smoking determinants in adolescence. In addition to providing, in this survey design, information about their smoking status, participants self-reported both their height and weight, which was converted into a BMI. Contrary to predictions, smoking was positively related to BMI. That is, with increasing levels of smoking exposure, BMI significantly increased. Thus, it appears that smoking is not related to lowered BMI in adolescent populations. Implications and possible reasons for these findings are discussed.