Randomized Controlled Trial for Behavioral Smoking and Weight Control Treatment: Effect of Concurrent Versus Sequential Intervention

The authors compared simultaneous versus sequential approaches to multiple health behavior change in diet, exercise, and cigarette smoking. Female regular smokers ( N = 315) randomized to 3 conditions received 16 weeks of behavioral smoking treatment, quit smoking at Week 5, and were followed for 9 months after quit date. Weight management was omitted for control and was added to the 1st 8 weeks for early diet (ED) and the final 8 weeks for late diet (LD). ED lacked lasting effect on weight gain, whereas LD initially lacked but gradually acquired a weight-suppression effect that stabilized ( p =.004). Behavioral weight control did not undermine smoking cessation and, when initiated after the smoking quit date, slowed the rate of weight gain, supporting a sequential approach.