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Alcohol consumption and body weight change in postmenopausal women: results from the Women's Health Initiative

Abstract

Objective:

To determine whether alcohol consumption is associated with incident overweight or obesity in normal-weight, postmenopausal women.

Design:

Prospective cohort study considering baseline alcohol consumption and subsequent weight change over 7 years.

Subjects:

15 920 normal-weight (body mass index (BMI): 18.5 to <25 kg m−2), postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women′s Health Initiative Clinical Trial.

Measurements:

Body weight change, and incident overweight and obesity (BMI, 25.0 to <30 and 30 kg m−2) over 7 years.

Results:

One-third of the 13 822 women included in the analytical cohort reported no alcohol consumption. BMI differed little between abstainers (22.8±1.58 kg m−2) and alcohol consumers in the upper quintile (22.7±1.53 kg m−2). Among normal-weight women, the risk of becoming overweight or obese over a 7-year follow-up period was 35% or 88% lower, respectively, for women in the upper quintile of alcohol intake relative to abstainers (hazard ratio (HR), 0.65; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.58–0.73; or HR, 0.12; 95% CI, 0.05–0.25, respectively). Risk for overweight and obesity was not significantly modified by age. Wine consumption showed the greatest protective association for risk of overweight (HR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.68–0.84), followed by liquor (HR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.78–0.93) and beer (HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.82–1.00).

Conclusion:

Postmenopausal women of normal weight who report moderate alcohol intake have a reduced risk of becoming overweight or obese over time. Perhaps, weight control measures in this population should target behaviors other than reduction in alcohol for those of normal BMI consuming moderate amounts.

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Acknowledgements

SHORT LIST OF WHI INVESTIGATORS

Program Office: (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA) Jacques Rossouw, Shari Ludlam, Dale Burwen, Joan McGowan, Leslie Ford, and Nancy Geller.

Clinical Coordinating Center: (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA) Garnet Anderson, Ross Prentice, Andrea LaCroix, and Charles Kooperberg.

Investigators and Academic Centers: (Brigham and Women′s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA) JoAnn E Manson; (MedStar Health Research Institute/Howard University, Washington, DC, USA) Barbara V Howard; (Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford, CA, USA) Marcia L Stefanick; (The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA) Rebecca Jackson; (University of Arizona, Tucson/Phoenix, AZ, USA) Cynthia A Thomson; (University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA) Jean Wactawski-Wende; (University of Florida, Gainesville/Jacksonville, FL, USA) Marian Limacher; (University of Iowa, Iowa City/Davenport, IA, USA) Robert Wallace; (University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA) Lewis Kuller; (Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA) Sally Shumaker.

Women′s Health Initiative Memory Study: (Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC) Sally Shumaker.

For a list of all the investigators who have contributed to WHI science, please visit: http://www.whiscience.org/publications/WHI_investigators_longlist.pdf

The WHI program is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health, and Human Services through contracts HHSN268201100046C, HHSN268201100001C, HHSN268201100002C, HHSN268201100003C, HHSN268201100004C and HHSN271201100004C.

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Thomson, C., Wertheim, B., Hingle, M. et al. Alcohol consumption and body weight change in postmenopausal women: results from the Women's Health Initiative. Int J Obes 36, 1158–1164 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2012.84

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