A new Australian study exposing the myth that (26) keep weight down is a further warning about the dangers of smoking. The study, (27) by a research team from the University of New South Wales and the University of Melbourne, found people do not (28) fat simply because they smoke. The research found smokers lost muscle mass, which gave them the appearance of being thinner, but the fat instead was stored around their (29) vital organs. Mice were studied over seven weeks, with half (30) smoke from four cigarettes a day for six days a week while the other half smoke free. Mice on the smoke diet ate about 23 per cent less but their fat mass kept to similar levels. The executive director of an anti-smoking association Fiona Sharkie said the study was a further warning to smokers that they were (31) their health. "It also blew their perception they were burning fat and staying thinner or (32) ," she said. "If you lose muscle it (33) you are losing more weight," Ms Sharkie said. "It gives the appearance you are looking skinnier, but you are still storing the fat, which is not (34) a good thing. " "We’re debunking that myth as well with these findings. " She said the fat would tend to gather around a smoker’s waist, adding to the (35) effects on their health. "That’s around the liver, lungs, heart... and the stomach as well," she said. A new Australian study exposing the myth that (26) keep weight down is a further warning about the dangers of smoking. The study, (27) by a research team from the University of New South Wales and the University of Melbourne, found people do not (28) fat simply because they smoke. The research found smokers lost muscle mass, which gave them the appearance of being thinner, but the fat instead was stored around their (29) vital organs. Mice were studied over seven weeks, with half (30) smoke from four cigarettes a day for six days a week while the other half smoke free. Mice on the smoke diet ate about 23 per cent less but their fat mass kept to similar levels. The executive director of an anti-smoking association Fiona Sharkie said the study was a further warning to smokers that they were (31) their health. "It also blew their perception they were burning fat and staying thinner or (32) ," she said. "If you lose muscle it (33) you are losing more weight," Ms Sharkie said. "It gives the appearance you are looking skinnier, but you are still storing the fat, which is not (34) a good thing. " "We’re debunking that myth as well with these findings. " She said the fat would tend to gather around a smoker’s waist, adding to the (35) effects on their health. "That’s around the liver, lungs, heart... and the stomach as well," she said.