Korean women are known to have a very low smoking rate. However, the actual smoking rate among Korean women is higher than 10% and may continue to increase gradually. In addition, some Korean women use extreme weight control methods that have potentially harmful effects. This study was conducted to elucidate weight control methods related to cotinine-verified smoking among Korean adult women.

This cross-sectional study involved 4,189 women aged ≥19 years who had attempted weight control during the past 1 year from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2008-2011. Smoking status was assessed using both self-report questionnaires and assays of urinary cotinine, and weight control methods were investigated using self-report questionnaires.

The smoking rate based on the measurement of urinary cotinine was 12.4% ± 0.8% among Korean women. Cotinine-verified smokers were more likely to attempt fasting (odds ratio, 2.19; 95% confidence intervals, 1.03 to 4.67), taking prescription diet-pills (odds ratio, 2.37; 95% confidence intervals, 1.47 to 3.82), and taking nonprescription diet-pills (odds ratio, 3.46; 95% confidence intervals, 1.71 to 6.98), and were less likely to attempt eating less food or modifying dietary patterns (odds ratio, 0.71; 95% confidence intervals, 0.51 to 0.99) compared to non-smokers.

Korean adult women's smoking is independently related to a high likelihood of using weight control methods with potentially harmful effects, such as fasting and taking diet-pills, and a low likelihood of choosing weight control methods, including dietary modification, that require constant effort for a prolonged time.