Given the ties between smoking habits and body weight, this study sought to investigate whether cigarette smoking modified the relationship between media use (television viewing or computer use outside of work) and overweight/obesity in a cohort of 8,467 adults (≥20 years) from the NHANES database (1999-2002). Among nonsmokers, those with more than 4 hours/day of media use were at increased risk of being overweight (OR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.3-2.0) and obese (OR: 3.9; 95% CI: 2.9-5.2) compared to nonsmokers who reported less than 1 hour/day. However, these relationships were absent among smokers, suggesting that cigarette smoking should be taken into account when evaluating the effect of media use on overweight/obesity.
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