title: Alcohol consumption patterns, diet and body weight in 10 European countries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Europe has the highest level of alcohol consumption in the world. As drinking patterns are important determinants of the beneficial and harmful effects of alcohol consumption, we investigated alcohol consumption in relation to nutrient intake, place of consumption, education and body weight in a sample of adults from 10 European countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 24-h dietary recall interview was conducted on 13 025 men and 23 009 women, aged 35-74 years, from 27 centres participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Means and standard errors of alcohol consumption, adjusted for age, were calculated, stratified by gender and centre.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In many centres, higher level drinkers (males consuming >24 g of ethanol/day, equivalent to >2 standard drinks and females consuming >12 g of ethanol/day equivalent to >1 standard drink) obtained more energy from fat and protein and less from sugar than did abstainers. The proportion of energy from starch tended to be higher for male and lower for female higher level drinkers than for abstainers. Female higher level drinkers had a lower body mass index than did abstainers, whereas male higher level drinkers generally weighed more. Male higher level drinkers were less educated than abstainers in Mediterranean countries, but were more educated elsewhere. Female higher level drinkers were usually more educated than were abstainers. Outside the home, consumption (both genders) tended to be at friends' homes, particularly among men in Northern and Central Europe, and in bars in Spain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study reveals clear geographical differences in drinking habits across Europe, and shows that the characteristics of different alcohol consumption categories also vary.
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, Department of Preventive & Predictive Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Italy. Sabina.Sieri@istitutotumori.mi.it
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sieri
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Krogh
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Saieva
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Grobbee
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bergmann
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rohrmann
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tjønneland
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chloptsios
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dilis
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jenab
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Linseisen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wallström
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Chirlaque
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niravong
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Clavel-Chapelon
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Welch
authors.forename: N E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Bueno-de-Mesquita
authors.forename: Y T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: van der Schouw
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sacerdote
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Panico
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Parr
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Braaten
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olsen
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bingham
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Riboli
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Slimani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D003625:Data Collection; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015930:Diet Records; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004522:Educational Status; D002149:Energy Intake; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D013213:Starch / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D004041:Dietary Fats; D004044:Dietary Proteins; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D013213:Starch