The relation between drinking pattern and body mass index and waist and hip circumference.
OBJECTIVE
To study the association between alcohol drinking pattern and obesity.


METHODS
Cross-sectional population study with assessment of quantity and frequency of alcohol intake, waist and hip circumference, height, weight, and lifestyle factors including diet.


METHODS
In all, 25 325 men and 24 552 women aged 50-65 y from the Diet, Cancer and Health Study, Denmark, 1993-1997 participated in the study.


METHODS
Drinking frequency, total alcohol intake, body mass index (BMI), and waist and hip circumference.


RESULTS
Among men, total alcohol intake was positively associated with high BMI (>/=30 kg/m(2)), large waist circumference (>/=102 cm) and inversely associated with small hip circumference (<100 cm). Among women, the total alcohol was associated with high BMI, large waist (>/=88 cm), and small hips only for the highest intake (28+ drinks/week). The most frequent drinkers had the lowest odds ratios (OR) for being obese. Among men, OR for having a high BMI were 1.39 (95% confidence interval: 1.36-1.64), 1.17 (1.02-1.34), 1.00 (reference), 0.87 (0.77-0.98), and 0.73 (0.65-0.82) for drinking 1-3 days/month, 1 day/week, 2-4 days/week, 5-6 days/week, and 7 days/week, respectively. Similar estimates were found for waist circumference. Corresponding results were found for women.


CONCLUSIONS
For a given level of total alcohol intake, obesity was inversely associated with drinking frequency, whereas the amount of alcohol intake was positively associated with obesity. These results indicate that frequent drinking of small amounts of alcohol is the optimal drinking pattern in this relation.
Tolstrup
J S
JS
Centre for Alcohol Research, National Institute of Public Health, Copenhagen, Denmark. jst@niph.dk
Heitmann
B L
BL
Tjønneland
A M
AM
Overvad
O K
OK
Sørensen
T I A
TI
Grønbaek
M N
MN
D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D049628:Body Size / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006615:Hip; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012737:Sex Factors