The compound relationship of smoking and alcohol consumption with obesity

초록

It was postulated that heavy smokers weighed more due to a clustering of other unhealthy habits. Few attempts have been made to clarify the relationship between smoking and body weight in light of the interaction with other unhealthy habits, such as heavy alcohol consumption. The purpose of this study was to examine 1) whether the relationship between smoking and obesity was linear or non-linear (specifically U-shaped), and 2) if this relationship was appeared to be U-shaped, whether it was due to the interaction effect between smoking and alcohol consumption on obesity. Methods The present study was performed using cross sectional data taken from the medical records of 400 male patients. Data was analyzed using linear and curvilinear estimation, Fisher’s exact test, and two-way ANCOVA. Results The relationship between smoking intensity and BMI was explained significantly by a quadratic model, rather than by linear model. As has been shown in other studies, this relationship was parabolic (or U-shaped), though it was not particularly remarkable. This U-shaped relationship appeared to be due to the interaction effect between smoking intensity and alcohol consumption on BMI. In conclusion, there is no doubt that smoking and obesity are both serious health hazards. Based on the results of this and other studies, it can be confirmed that due to the significant interaction effect between smoking and alcohol consumption on obesity, heavy smoking has a positive relationship with obesity.