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Heavy drinking in young adulthood elevates obesity risk

Young adults who episodically consume excessive amounts of alcohol have a higher risk of transitioning to overweight or obesity and gaining additional weight, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

These findings suggest that obesity prevention efforts should address heavy drinking, the researchers noted.

“Alcohol has a high energy density of 7 kcal/g, second only to fat, and heavy drinking peaks during young adulthood,” Tera L. Fazzino, PhD, from the department of preventive medicine and public health at the University of Kansas Medical Center, and colleagues wrote. “Despite this, the role of alcohol as a potential contributing factor to weight gain and overweight/obesity among young adults has generally been overlooked in both the obesity and alcohol literatures.”

Fazzino and colleagues used multinomial logistic regression models and data from Waves III and Wave IV of the U.S. National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to analyze the relationship between heavy episodic drinking during early adulthood and transition to overweight/obese status five years later. A total of 7,941 participants who were aged 18 to 26 years during Wave III and 24 to 32 years during Wave IV were included in the analysis. Participants were eligible if they had recorded measurements of their height and weight and reported ever drinking alcohol. Heavy episodic drinking was classified as consuming four or more alcoholic drinks for women and five or more for men during a single episode occurring once per month or more in the past year.

Results showed that heavy episodic drinking increased the risk for transitioning from normal weight to overweight by 41% (RR = 1.41; 95% CI, 1.13-1.74; P = .002) compared with individuals not drinking heavily. Heavy episodic drinkers were also 36% more likely to transition from overweight to obese by Wave IV (RR = 1.36; 95% CI, 1.09-1.71; P = .008). In addition, the risk for maintaining obesity (RR = 1.35; 95% CI, 1.06-1.72; P = .016) and gaining excess weight (OR = 1.2; 95% CI, 1.03-1.39; P = .02) was 35% higher for heavy episodic drinkers.

“The findings have significant implications for weight gain prevention among young adults and suggest that interventions should address heavy episodic alcohol use as it relates to caloric intake, excess weight gain, and risk of transitioning to overweight/obesity,” Fazzino and colleagues concluded. “A comprehensive obesity prevention intervention that targets all relevant factors affecting young adult weight change is needed to address the existing obesity epidemic. Additionally, information about risk of excess weight gain and overweight/obesity could be included in alcohol prevention and treatment interventions targeting young adults.” – by Alaina Tedesco

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.