The Primary Results of the Treating Adult Smokers at Risk for Weight Gain with Interactive Technology (TARGIT) Study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether a behavioral weight management program combined with a smoking cessation program delivered via interactive technology could prevent post-cessation weight gain. METHODS: 330 young adult smokers age 18 to 35 were randomized to a smoking cessation program alone (Comparison group) that included behavioral counseling and nicotine replacement or to a behavioral weight management program adapted from the Look AHEAD trial plus the same smoking cessation program (Intervention group). RESULTS: TARGIT randomized 164 to the Comparison and 166 to the Intervention group respectively. On average the participants gained +0.91 kg after 24 months in the trial (Comparison group +1.45 kg and Intervention group +0.32, p = 0.157). The only variable systematically affecting weight change over time was smoking abstinence, where those that were abstinent on average gained 0.14 kg more per month compared to those who continued to smoke (p < 0.001). In exploratory analyses, the Intervention participants who were abstinent at 6 months had numerically smaller weight gains compared to abstinent Comparison participants, but these differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Providing an intensive weight gain prevention program combined with a smoking cessation program via interactive technology was not associated with greater long-term weight gain prevention.