Local health officials say exercising can be used a "positive addiction" to help replace smoking
A study shows that teens who exercised more quit smoking within three months
/ Sarah Bleau
ALBANY, GA -- In our Facebook Story of the Day, you wanted to know about exercising helping people to quit smoking.
According to a West Virginia School of Medicine study, even small or moderate doses of exercise helped 14 percent of teens quit within three months.
Exercise Physiologist Mary Ganzel, who also works at the Albany YMCA, says trading a positive addiction – like exercising – for a negative one – like smoking – is a great way to quit.
Other local health officials encourage deadlines.
"Set a quit date, decide I'm going to quit October 31st or October 12th. then plan it with something else: exercise, hobbies, dancing, movies, whatever it may be," says Dr. Jonathan Williams, Emergency Physician at Palmyra Medical Center.
Ganzel says smokers need to replace the euphoric feeling they get with smoking with another activity.
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