Is it better to huff or puff?

Smokers are aware their habit is unhealthy, but the addictive nature of nicotine makes quitting much easier said than done.

A recent study out of Penn State University reveals that the fear of weight gain that often comes with tobacco cessation adds to the reluctance to kick the unhealthy habit.

Researchers found that ex-smokers gain an average of 8 to 14 pounds within the first year of kicking the habit — and an average of 22 pounds total. More than half of the nearly 300 participants in the study reported weight gain in previous attempts to quit.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that smokers who gained weight previously are ‘once bitten, twice shy,’” Susan Veldheer, project manager at Penn State’s department of public health sciences, said in a university news release. “They are concerned about weight gain if they attempt to quit even though they may know the benefits of quitting.”

So, do the health risks associated with smoking outweigh those associated with weight gain? Is it better to be a little out of breath from added pounds than to breath in carcinogens?

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, adding 5 to 10 pounds is significantly healthier than living as a cigarette smoker.

So, yeah, it’s better to “huff” than “puff.”