Assessment of Smoking, Vaping, and Alcohol Consumption Behavior

Many smokers believe that smoking helps them to control their weight, and concerns about weight gain can interfere with smoking cessation. In fact, nicotine has been shown to suppress appetite and increase resting metabolic rate, and smoking also serves as a behavioral alternative to eating or a distraction from hunger or food cravings. E-cigarettes are frequently marketed as the safer and healthier alternative to smoking, and some e-cigarettes are in fact actively advertised for weight management and/or suppression of food cravings, encouraging smokers to make the switch. In contrast, alcohol consumption has been shown to increase appetite and food intake and at the same time is associated with smoking and vaping.

Therefore, it is possible that participants who smoke or vape for weight control, particularly those who also regularly consume alcohol, would benefit from a lifestyle program that encompasses dietary counseling and exercise to prevent weight gain after smoking cessation. Additionally, methods to assess smoking, vaping, alcohol intake, and food intake (i.e., ingestive behaviors) historically relied on self-report, though the investigator's group has developed smartphone apps that allow people to capture images of their intake and/or self-report their intake in the app. App-based methods offer advantages, including the real-time transfer of data, and it is presumed that people will believe that apps are an easier and preferred method to capture ingestive behaviors, yet this assumption has not yet been thoroughly examined.