WEIGHT CONCERNS AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS AND CAUCASIANS

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Cigarette smoking is about equally prevalent among African-American and Caucasian women (28 percent-31 percent), whereas obesity is more prevalent among African-American women (44 percent) than among Caucasian women (35 percent). Although research has demonstrated that it is healthier to quit smoking and gain 10-15 pounds than it is to continue to smoke, many Caucasian female smokers use smoking as a weight control strategy; the fear of weight gain deters many women from even attempting to quit smoking. It is unknown, however, whether female smokers in other ethnic groups hold similar concerns about weight, or whether smokers who are enrolled in a smoking cessation treatment setting differ from female smokers in the community who are not attempting to quit smoking. The purpose of this study is to compare the general weight concerns and smoking-specific weight concerns among African-American and Caucasian female smokers who enroll in treatment to ethnically-comparable female smokers from a community sample of smokers who are not attempting to quit smoking. This research will examine the overall proposition that African-American women are less weight conscious than Caucasian women and are therefore less likely to engage in smoking as a weight-controlling strategy. It is predicted that Caucasian women who enter the treatment setting will exhibit a level of weight concerns that is comparable to that of Caucasian women in the community, but that the weight concerns of African-American women in a treatment setting will be higher than African-Americans in the community and similar to those of Caucasians in a treatment setting. It is also predicted that ethnicity will account for more of the variance in weight concerns than socio-economic status or Body Mass Index. Results will indicate whether African-Americans have weight concerns that are similar to Caucasians' that may prevent them from quitting smoking. This study may aid in the development of culturally-sensitive interventions to help African-Americans in the community quit smoking.