Women who drank 2-3 alcoholic drinks per day were 71% less likely to become obese over 12.9 years

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Monday, March 15, 2010 9:52 am Email this article
Women who consumed 30 grams of alcohol per day or more (2 or 3 drinks) were 27 percent less likely to become overweight, and 71% less likely to become obese during a 12.9 year follow-up according to a new study from researchers at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Subjects

Subjects: 19,220 normal-weight U.S. women

The study involved 19,220 U.S. women who were 38.9 years or older and free from major diseases and were normal weight with a BMI of 18.5 to 25 when the study began.

“Compared with nondrinkers, initially nor- mal-weight women who consumed a light to moderate amount of alcohol gained less weight and had a lower risk of becoming overweight and/or obese during 12.9 years of follow-up,” the researchers concluded.

Alcohol content of drinks was:

• 13.2 g for 360 mL (12 oz) of beer
• 10.8 g for 120 mL (4 oz) of red or white wine, and
• 15.1 g for 45 mL (1.5 oz) of liquor

 

Comment

Comment: I did not include info on red wine vs white wine vs beer vs liquor

I decided not to include information specifically on red wine vs white wine vs beer vs liquor because the numbers were so small.

For example, only 5 women consumed one glass of red wine or more per day, and only 10 women consumed one glass of white wine per day or more.

Therefore, I decided to only include the data on total alcohol consumption.

REFERENCE

Wang L, Lee I, Manson J, Buring J, Sesso H. Alcohol consumption, weight gain, and risk of becoming overweight in middle-aged and older women. Arch Intern Med. 2010 Mar 8, 170(5):453-61.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Lu Wang, MD, PhD
Division of Preventive Medicine
Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
900 Commonwealth Ave E
Boston, MA 02215 USA
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Alcohol