Smoking Doesn’t Keep Girls Thin and May Keep Boys Short

From: www.connectwithkids.com

Here’s more ammunition for parents who find their teens smoking – contrary to popular belief, smoking doesn’t help in weight control – and it may turn teen boys into shrimpy grown-ups.
A five-year study out of McGill University in Montreal looked at nearly 1,300 students – and found that smoking and non-smoking girls gain weight at the same rate.
But 42 per cent of boys in the survey who smoked were slimmer and shorter than non-smoking boys, which suggests that smoking may have stunted their growth.
“By the time we started following the girls, they already had reached puberty,” said Dr. Louise Pilote, an epidemiologist with the university’s Health Centre. “Whereas in boys, puberty comes in later so that could be a factor that explains the difference between boys and girls.”


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