The history of smoking dates back from centuries ago, but you can never hear anything that talks of smoking as beneficial to health. Nobody can teach a dog an old trick, so you can never instruct a heavy smoker to quit from smoking. Smoking is like a habit that is embedded in your system like the more you smoke the better you feel.

Cigarettes and tobacco have nicotine that causes the addiction. Smokers believe that every puff can ease out the tension and steers they feel. Smoking makes them think clearly, notwithstanding the adverse effects it causes to their health. It can cause diseases like emphysema, cancer and other cardiovascular diseases.

Smoking is considered an in thing especially among youngsters. Because of peer pressure teenagers are forced to like or are enticed to smoke just to belong to a group. In some instances, smoking has become the yardstick of group affiliation among the young. More and more teenagers are now addicted to smoking which increases their susceptibility to health related risks of smoking.

Obesity is looked upon differently. Obesity compared with smoking, obese people cannot join a group whose members have normal body weight. Unless of course they create their own group that is exclusive for obese and overweight.

Obesity compared with smoking have both become an issue among youth. Although the two are viewed differently, they continue to impact the health of young individuals. Obesity has been linked to diseases like stroke, hypertension and even cancer. It is also the leading cause of type-2 diabetes.

While obesity is something to curb, smoking is seen as a fad. Nevertheless, it is the health of the youth that is at stake. It is interesting to note, however that the population of both obese and smokers are getting younger. Obesity and smoking will continue to pose a challenge to both developing and developed countries. Obesity compared with smoking is as bad to one's health as smoking.

So if you are fat and you smoke, which group do you belong then? The question is rather rhetoric. The answer lies on which of the two are you willing to get rid off. But any which one left is still detrimental to one's health.

It is best to tackle one of these problems rather than both at once. Invariably smokers who give up tend to put on weight so perhaps the best way to start is to try to do something about your weight.