BACKGROUND: Alcohol is a discretionary, energy dense, dietary component. Compared to non-drinkers, people who consume alcohol report higher total energy intake and may be at increased risk of weight gain, overweight, and obesity, which are key preventable risk factors for illness. However, accurate consumer knowledge of the energy content in alcohol is low. To inform future behaviour change interventions among drinkers, this study investigated individual characteristics associated with changing alcohol consumption due to energy-related concerns.
METHODS: An online survey was undertaken with 801 Australian adult drinkers (18-59 years, 50.2% female), i.e. who consumed alcohol at least monthly. In addition to demographic and health-related characteristics, participants reported past-year alcohol consumption, past-year reductions in alcohol consumption, frequency of harm minimisation strategy use (when consuming alcohol), and frequency of changing alcohol consumption behaviours because of energy-related concerns.
RESULTS: When prompted, 62.5% of participants reported changing alcohol consumption for energy-related reasons at least 'sometimes'. Women, those aged 30-44 years, metropolitan residents, those with household income $80,001-120,000, and risky/more frequent drinkers had increased odds of changing consumption because of energy-related concerns, and unemployed respondents had reduced odds.
CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that some sociodemographic groups are changing alcohol consumption for energy-related reasons, but others are not, representing an underutilised opportunity for health promotion communication. Further research should investigate whether messaging to increase awareness of alcohol energy content, including through systems-based policy actions such as nutritional/energy product labelling, would motivate reduced consumption across a broader range of drinkers.
Older adults of today consume more alcohol, yet knowledge about the factors associated with different consumption levels is limited in this age group. Based on the data from a population-based sample (n = 1156, 539 men and 617 women) in The Gothenburg H70 Birth Cohort Study 2014-16, we examined sociodemographic, social, and health-related factors associated with alcohol consumption levels in 70-year-olds, using logistic regression. Total weekly alcohol intake was calculated based on the self-reported amount of alcohol consumed.
Alcohol consumption was categorized as lifetime abstention, former drinking, moderate consumption (98 g/week). At-risk consumption was further categorized into lower at-risk (98-196 g/week), medium at-risk (196-350 g/week), and higher at-risk (>/=350 g/week). We found that among the 1156 participants, 3% were lifetime abstainers, 3% were former drinkers, 64% were moderate drinkers, and 30% were at-risk drinkers (20% lower, 8% medium, 2% higher).
Among several factors, former drinking was associated with worse general self-rated health (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.08-2.51) and lower health-related quality of life (measured by physical component score) (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.91-0.97), higher illness burden (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.07-1.27), and weaker grip strength (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.94-0.98). Higher at-risk drinkers more often had liver disease (OR 11.41, 95% CI 3.48-37.37) and minor depression (OR 4.57, 95% CI 1.40-14.95), but less contacts with health care (OR 0.32, 95% CI 0.11-0.92).
Our findings demonstrate the importance of classifications beyond abstinence and at-risk consumption, with implications for both the prevention and clinical management of unhealthy consumption patterns in older adults.
BACKGROUND: Both alcohol use and weight status have been linked to increased mortality risk, but evidence of their joint effect is limited. The goal of this study was to examine the combined effects of alcohol and weight status (BMI classes: underweight, normal, overweight, obesity) on mortality using nationally representative data.
METHODS: Using data from public-use National Health Interview Survey-Linked Mortality Files (NHIS-LMF), 2001-2011, linked to prospective mortality follow-up through December 2015, we used age-period-cohort Cox proportional hazards models to examine all-cause and cause-specific mortality associated with the joint effects of alcohol use and BMI on 209,317 individuals aged 35-85.
RESULTS: Individuals with an underweight BMI status had higher all-cause and cause-specific mortality risks than those with a normal BMI status and light/moderate alcohol intake. All-cause mortality risks were 148% (hazard ratio [HR] 2.48, 95% CI 1.60-3.83) higher in underweight heavy drinkers than light/moderate drinkers with normal BMI status. Obese heavy drinkers had a 16% higher chance of dying from all-cause mortality (HR 1.16, 95% CI 1.00-1.35). Individuals in the unknown alcohol and BMI category have a higher chance of death from all-cause (HR 1.35, 95% CI 1.14-1.59) or cause-specific (CVD HR 1.75, 95% CI 1.14-2.69 and Cancer HR 1.33, 95% CI 1.01-1.76).
CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol drinking levels result in heightened all-cause and cause-specific mortality risks; the risks are compounded among underweight, obese, and unknown BMI individuals across all or cause-specific mortality.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the association between alcohol consumption and the prevalence of stroke in Chinese adults aged 40 years and over.
METHOD: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis among 113,573 Chinese adults aged >/= 40 years in the China National Stroke Prevention Project (2014-2015) to examine correlations of alcohol consumption with the prevalence of stroke. Logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), controlling for various confounders, e.g., gender, age, smoking, physical activity and other health conditions.
RESULTS: Within the study population, a total of 12,753 stroke survivors were identified. The prevalence of light to moderate and of heavy alcohol consumption was 10.1% and 5.7% respectively. The multivariate logistic regression results show that light to moderate alcohol consumption was associated with reduced risk of stroke of all types [0.91 (95%CI: 0.85-0.97)] and of ischemic stroke [0.90 (0.84-0.97)]. No association was found between alcohol consumption and hemorrhagic stroke. Compared with abstainers, the adjusted ORs of all stroke were 0.83 (0.75-0.92) for those who drank 11-20 years, and no association was found between 1 and 10 years or over 20 years of drinking and risk of stroke.
CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that light to moderate alcohol consumption may be protective against all and ischemic stroke, and heavy drinking was not significantly associated with risk of all stroke in China. No association between alcohol consumption and hemorrhagic stroke was found.