average of 19.5 cigarettes per day compared to 17.2 per day for past-year female smokers, and the difference was statistically significant (F=32.2, p<.001). It is therefore possible that the level of nicotine absorbed by women who currently smoke is sufficient to avoid obesity but not overweight. The category of lifetime nicotine dependence includes former smokers, so the higher risk among overweight women could be due to post-cessation weight gain, a problem that affects women more frequently than men (O'Hara et al., 1998).
