The association between alcohol intake and obesity in a sample of the Irish adult population

Alkalbani, Salma Rashid; Murrin, Celine

dc.contributor.author	Alkalbani, Salma Rashid
dc.contributor.author	Murrin, Celine	en
dc.date.accessioned	2024-09-23T09:01:08Z
dc.date.available	2024-09-23T09:01:08Z
dc.date.issued	2021-07-02
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10147/642954
dc.description	Background: The prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide. Alcohol has been studied as a possible risk factor for obesity, but the evidence is discordant. This study examined the association between alcohol consumption and obesity in an Irish population. Methodology: A cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Healthy Ireland Survey 2017 was conducted. Descriptive and comparative data were analysed to identify associations of alcohol-related variables with waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI). Regression analysis was performed to examine associations between harmful alcohol consumption (AUDIT-C score≥ 5) and obesity indicators. Adjustments for sociodemographic variables, health-related factors, and other alcohol-related variables were applied. Result: A total of 7,486 participants participated in this survey (response rate=60.4%). Most of the participants (86%) were alcohol drinkers, with the majority drinking less than 3 times per week (77.5%); 49.1% were considered harmful drinkers. After controlling for possible confounders, positive associations of harmful alcohol consumption with WC (β=1.978, 95% CI: 0.996, 2.960) and BMI (OR=1.247, 95% CI: 1.058, 1.471) were observed. Further controlling for alcohol consumption frequency and binge drinking made this association nonsignificant. Unlike less frequent binge drinking, daily binge drinking was positively associated with WC. Conclusion: Harmful alcohol consumption was associated with obesity (high BMI, large WC) after controlling for possible confounders; however, this association became nonsignificant after controlling for other alcohol-related variables. Frequent binge drinkers were more likely to have a large WC. Further longitudinal studies to examine the exact association between alcohol consumption and obesity are warranted.	en_US
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.publisher	University College Dublin	en_US
dc.rights	Attribution 4.0 International	*
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/	*
dc.subject	RESEARCH	en_US
dc.subject	OBESITY	en_US
dc.subject	ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION	en_US
dc.title	The association between alcohol intake and obesity in a sample of the Irish adult population	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US
dc.contributor.department	University College Dublin	en_US
refterms.dateFOA	2024-09-23T09:01:09Z