Weight gain management in smoking cessation treatments

The relationship between smoking and chronic diseases such as obesity is a concern for public health care agencies. Smoking cessation and the control of weight gain are the objectives of this review. Patients can take advantage of various benefits from smoking cessation, among which are the improvement in health conditions, economy of resources and better social living. To many smokers who wish to stop smoking, the possibility of gaining weight when abandoning their dependence may represent a barrier to cessation, in addition to being a risk factor for the development of other chronic diseases. Weight gain in smokers usually occurs in the first six months after cessation; however, their weight then stabilizes after a year. Smell and taste improvement, which enhances the taste of food, and the reduction in the level of nicotine, which is responsible for various alterations in the organism related to food ingestion and metabolism, are some of the mechanisms involved. Nutritional education is presently the most appropriate procedure to be adopted if the goal to be achieved is an improvement in general health conditions, since it seeks full awareness of the psychological and physiological adaptations that also result in the adaptation of the organic metabolism. Hence, nutritional intervention helps patients to understand why they gain weight during smoking cessation and to learn, in practice, the measures that can prevent or minimize such weight gain.