More evidence that Frenchwomen’s vaunted thinness isn’t entirely due to portion control and joie de vivre: les femmes françaises are apparently reluctant to quit smoking for fear of gaining weight.
According to the Daily Beast‘s Eric Pape, French men are cutting back on smoking, but women’s cigarette consumption — and lung cancer rates — have risen. Christelle Touré, who works for France’s anti-smoking committee, says, “The top concern of many women who contemplate giving up smoking: don’t fatten up.” Singer Dorothée Rascle concurs, saying, “If I stopped smoking, the first thing I’d think about would be weight gain. If you work on stage, you have to look cool — and not be enormous.” The average weight gain from quitting smoking is far from enormous — somewhere between 4.5 and 9 pounds. A third don’t actually add any weight. And, though this shouldn’t be smokers’ main concern, long-term smoking can also make women put on belly fat, which Touré calls “a bit manly.”
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