Smoking Doesn't Make You Thin

If you subscribe to the belief that cigarette smoking can help you shed those extra pounds, forget it. A new scientific study suggests smoking has no effect on weight loss.

The idea has gained popularity among women who believe that smoking, although harmful to health in general, can help them cut down on eating. But researchers at the University of Memphis say there is "minimal evidence" of lower weight among smokers compared with non-smokers.

The study was conducted over seven years and involved 4,000 women. It also indicated that test subjects taking up the habit during this period lost no weight at all.

Clive Bates, director of Britain's Action on Smoking and Health, says "this confirms a suspicion that we have had for some time." But experts conceded it would come as a shock to some who have made role models of skinny actresses and models who are photographed smoking cigarettes.