Clearing the Smoke



Picture by Valentin Ottone



            Despite obvious health risks numerous women have currently engaged in jeopardous activities, such as smoking, in order to maintain weight and body image. Associate professor at Temple University in the Departments of Kinesiology and Public Health, as well as a Research Scientist at the Center for Obesity Research and Education, Melissa A. Napolitano has provided extensive research into this behavior in her article entitled “ Targeting Body Image Schema for Smoking Cessation Among College Females: Rationale, Program Description, and Pilot Study Results.” According to her article, body image as well as weight concerns, often fuel smoking behaviors among females. Undeterred by negative heath consequences women continue to smoke, in order to achieve aesthetic approval, but Napolitano discusses possible smoking interventions, including body image and exercise interventions, that may help modify this behavior.

            According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention each year tobacco claims more lives than HV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined; and account for 80% of lung cancer deaths in women. With this staggering statistic in mind, tobacco unsurprisingly has been the leading cause of premature mortality in the United States (Napolitano 3). Cigarette companies openly communicate risks associated with smoking their products but many consumers decide to disregard these warnings. They continue to purchase their goods, often with superficial objectives in mind, many of which are female buyers.

            Among college students, twenty-two to thirty-four percent engage in smoking rituals (Napolitano 3). There is substantial evidence that has led researchers to believe that body image and weight play an integral role in smoking behavior. Correlational studies have revealed that smokers seem to be less satisfied with their bodies than non-smokers (Napolitano 3).  Within the female psyche, smoking is synonymous to dieting, disordered eating symptoms, as well as weight concerns (Napolitano 3). Napolitano has introduced a series of interventions with hopes of reversing this behavior.

            Napolitano’s body image intervention consisted of weekly 45 minute body image workshops, in which group leaders, guided by cognitive-behaviorally based treatment for body dissatisfaction, would introduce new topics to the group. The framework of the group discussions were provided by topics such as Discovering Your Personal Body Image, Harnessing Knowledge for Change, Treating your body right, as well as a range of other topics in between. The topics were provided by a workbook titled The Body Image Workbook: An 8-Step Program for Learning to Like Your Looks that participants were asked to take home and complete homework for the next week (Napolitano 8).

            Within the exercise intervention, participants attended one 45 minute class, weekly, with a certified fitness instructor who taught them how to exercise within their proper target heart rate range, take their own heart rates, and assess exertion levels to ensure proper intensity of activity (Napolitano 8). Each week staff study members would collect an exercise log from each participant and help them to solve problems surrounding personal barriers that may inhibit their physical activity. Additionally, all participants were given packets of handouts that would aid them in meeting their physical activity goals (Napolitano 9).

            As a result, Napolitano concluded that, as a whole, participants attended about 5.38 out of 8 possible sessions. Additionally, there was a significant difference in the number of participants of the body image group versus the exercise group (Napolitano 14). Towards the end of the interventions it was recorded that participants of the body image group lost a mean of 3.3 pounds while the participants of the exercise group lost 0.9 pounds. In relation to these results, members of the body image group reported reductions in smoking-related weight loss concerns, while participants of the exercised group reported virtually no change (Napolitano 15).  

            Conclusively, we can assume that there are high hopes for reducing smoking-related body image and weight lost behaviors. The source of the behaviors seems to be more psychological rather than physical, as the results from Napolitano’s interventions reveal. Providing positive self-evaluations, as well as ways to counteract negative thoughts, majorly impact the severity of smoking-behaviors. Essentially, it seems as though increasing self-esteem among female college smokers may be the key to diminishing the number of cigarettes we find on college campuses.

Works Cited

Napolitano, Melissa A. "Targeting Body Image Schema for Smoking Cessation Among College Females: Rationale, Program Description, and Pilot Study Results." Behavior Modification 35.4 (2011): 323-46. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.