BACKGROUND: Several studies have suggested a link between the type of alcoholic beverage consumption and body weight. However, results from longitudinal studies have been inconsistent, and the association between adolescent alcohol consumption long-term weight gain has generally not been examined.
METHODS: The study was based on data from 720 Danish adolescents aged between 15 to 19 years at baseline from the Danish Youth and Sports Study (YSS). Self-reported alcohol use, height, weight, smoking, social economic status (SES) and physical activity levels were assessed in baseline surveys conducted in 1983 and 1985, and in the follow up survey which was conducted in 2005. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to examine the association between alcohol consumption in adolescence and subsequent weight gain later in midlife.
RESULTS: There was no significant association between total alcohol consumption during adolescence and change in BMI into midlife (P = 0.079) (beta - 0.14; 95% CI -0.28, 0.005). Wine consumption was found to be inversely associated to subsequent BMI gain (P = 0.001) (beta - 0.46; 95% CI -0.82, - 0.09) while the results were not significant for beer and spirit. The relationship did not differ by gender, but smoking status was found to modify the relationship, and the inverse association between alcohol and BMI gain was seen only among non-smokers (P = 0.01) (beta - 0.24; 95% CI -0.41, - 0.06) while no association was found among smokers. Neither adolescent nor attained socioeconomic status in adulthood modified the relationship between alcohol intake and subsequent BMI gain.
CONCLUSION: Among non-smoking adolescents, consumption of alcohol, and in particular wine, seems to be associated with less weight gain until midlife.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: The YSS cohort was retrospectively registered on August 2017. (Study ID number: NCT03244150 ).
BACKGROUND: Adolescent drinking has declined across many developed countries from the turn of the century. The aim of this review is to explore existing evidence examining possible reasons for this decline.
METHODS: We conducted systematic searches across five databases: Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Informit Health and Scopus. Studies were included if association between declining alcohol consumption and potential explanatory factors were measured over time. Narrative synthesis was undertaken due to substantial methodological heterogeneity in these studies.
RESULTS: 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. Five studies found moderate evidence for changes in parental practices as a potential cause for the decline. Five studies that examined whether alcohol policy changes influenced the decline found weak evidence of association. Three studies explored whether alcohol use has been substituted by illicit substances but no evidence was found. Two studies examined the effect of a weaker economy; both identified increase in adolescent alcohol use during times of economic crisis. One study indicated that changes in exposure to alcohol advertising were positively associated with the decline and another examined the role of immigration of non-drinking populations but found no evidence of association. One study tested participation in organised sports and party lifestyle as a potential cause but did not use robust analytical methods and therefore did not provide strong evidence of association for the decline.
CONCLUSIONS: The most robust and consistent evidence was identified for shifts in parental practices. Further research is required using robust analytical methods such as ARIMA modelling techniques and utilising cross-national data.
OBJECTIVES: To investigate how various alcohol-drinking behaviours are associated with sociodemographics, lifestyle factors and health status indicators in Brazil. STUDY DESIGN: This study is based on a household survey of 53,034 adults aged 18 + years from all 26 Brazilian capitals and the Federal District conducted in 2017.
METHODS: Sex-stratified relationships were modelled using logistic regressions and controlled for capital-specific effects. Main outcome measures included regular alcohol use, weekly alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking (HED), frequent HED and drinking and driving.
RESULTS: Overall (unadjusted) prevalence of regular alcohol consumption is 41%. Among drinkers, approximately 70% drink on a weekly basis, and 46% are heavy episodic drinkers. Among this latter group, close to 44% are frequent heavy episodic drinkers (i.e. at least four times in a month). Among regular drinkers who also are drivers, the prevalence of drinking and driving is 28%. These prevalences are considerably higher in men. The relationships investigated vary by drinking behaviour and sex, with some factors consistently associated with various behaviours, when present. Population (men or women) at greatest risk include (largely) younger individuals (up to 700% increase in odds) who are single or divorced, those who are less health conscious and watch television or use mobile devices during leisure time 4 + hours per day and do not have diabetes.
For drinking and driving, the additional risk factors include speeding behaviour, the use of mobile devices while driving and HED. Education, race/ethnicity and other health status indicators are differently associated with various drinking behaviours. For women, in particular, the results also show differences in odds of up to 360% and 1430% across cities for frequent HED and drinking and driving, respectively. Similarly, indigenous women are at greatest risk of weekly alcohol use and HED.
CONCLUSIONS: HED and drinking and driving are problematic, as the association with other factors suggests a clustering of risky behaviours that may exacerbate the consequences of drinking behaviours.
AIM: To present a comparison between the effects on health due to a reduction in binge drinking (BD) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), as a result of ALERTA ALCOHOL, an intervention aimed at reducing BD in Spanish adolescents.
METHODS: A two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted with an intervention and a control group, randomized at the school level, following individuals over four months. The study population consisted of Andalusian adolescents aged 15 to 19 years who were enrolled in urban public high schools (n=1247). Participants were assigned randomly to receive the intervention. The main outcomes studied were the number of occasions of BD in the last 30 days, which was directly obtained from the answers given by the adolescents, and HRQoL measured with the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire. The model of estimation was the generalized estimating equations (GEE) approach.
RESULTS: The program showed a BD reduction at the 4-month follow-up, although it was not shown to significantly increase the HRQoL in adolescents who reduced the number of occasions of BD and had received the intervention. However, it was shown that those who would predictably reduce the number of occasions of BD controlled by several sociodemographic variables perceived a higher HRQoL, as did those who had a greater adherence to the program.
CONCLUSIONS: Higher adherence to a web-based computer-tailored intervention to prevent BD in adolescents has a positive effect on decreasing the number of occasions of BD in adolescents as well as on increasing participants' HRQoL, although this second effect is very small, which could be due to the short follow-up time. This fact is quite important and should be assessed extensively to corroborate the results and translate into health policy.