The effect of alcohol consumption on body weight among Wisconsin adults

It is a common perception that alcohol use increases body weight. In fact, people are often advised to reduce their drinking if they wish to lose weight. To assess the relationship between alcohol use and body weight, we analyzed data from 5,496 Wisconsin men and women. We compared weights of drinkers and non-drinkers and adjusted for potential confounders. For women, there was a strong inverse relationship between drinking and weight. Women who drank any alcohol weighed an average of 2.6 kg (5.6 lbs) less than women who did not drink (p less than .0001). This association was found for all types of alcoholic beverages. No difference in weight was found overall between drinking and non-drinking men, although men who drank wine weighed significantly less (1.8 kg, p less than .05) than non-drinkers. These results, combined with other recent studies, suggest that alcohol use does not lead to increased weight among Wisconsin adults, and may be associated with lower weight among women.