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Some of the world’s most famous models have been photographed with a cigarette in their hand.
And fear of gaining weight is a common excuse why smokers don’t quit.
But a new study suggests that smoking actually increases belly fat – particularly that found deep in the abdomen and linked to a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and of dementia.
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen combined the results of different genetic studies involving more than a million people.
Smokers generally have low body weight, but they have a higher amount of visceral fat – the kind that accumulates around organs and increases the risk of chronic disease.
They examined whether people who had genes linked to smoking tended to have a different body fat distribution than non-smokers.
The analysis found that starting to smoke, and smoking throughout one’s life, was linked to an increase in abdominal fat.
They said it was likely visceral fat, which wraps around the abdominal organs, rather than subcutaneous fat located just under the skin.
Visceral fat is hard to see: you can have a flat stomach and still retain unhealthy amounts of it, increasing your risk of serious illness.
Lead author Dr Germán Carrasquilla said: “The influence of smoking on abdominal fat appears to occur independently of other factors such as socio-economic status, alcohol consumption, ADHD or degree risk-taking by a person.
Model Kate Moss is famous for her longtime affection for cigarettes and her enviable slim figure.
“From a public health perspective, these findings reinforce the importance of large-scale efforts to prevent and reduce smoking in the general population, as this could also help reduce abdominal visceral fat and all diseases. chronicles linked to it.”
“Reducing one major health risk in the population will indirectly reduce another major health risk.”
The study, published in the journal Addiction, states: “Tobacco prevention and cessation are essential to public health efforts to reduce the incidence of several chronic disorders, particularly respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
“However, quitting smoking is often associated with weight gain, which can reduce motivation to quit sustainably and compromise health benefits.
“Even though smokers generally have lower body weight, they tend to have more abdominal fat than nonsmokers, which increases their risk of cardiometabolic diseases.”
The researchers concluded that “efforts to prevent and quit smoking may have the added benefit of reducing abdominal fat.”
Figures suggest there are currently around 28.3 million adult cigarette smokers in the United States, with numbers declining over the past decade.
Previous studies have shown that nicotine, the active ingredient in cigarettes, suppresses appetite and increases metabolism.