Smoking cigarettes won't help teenage girls lose weight, but
teenage boys who smoke are shorter than their non-smoking
counterparts a new study has revealed. The Canadian study
published in the journal Annals of Epidemiology, followed more
than 1,250 teenagers from age 12 through 17, asking them every
three months to complete a questionnaire exploring their smoking
and lifestyle habits. The research concluded that girls who
smoke do not end up skinnier than girls who did not smoke but in
fact have a similar height and BMI. However there was a
difference in the boys' heights, with smokers appearing to be
shorter by 2.54 centimetres in average, compared to those
teenage boys who did not smoke. Executive Director of Quit, Ms
Fiona Sharkie, said these findings were significant given many
young women cite weight loss or weight control as a reason for
taking up the deadly habit and electing not to quit. "Teenage
girls who are unhappy about their weight often take up smoking
because they think it will make them thin