The relation between drinking pattern and body mass index and waist and hip circumference.

OBJECTIVES: To study the association between alcohol drinking pattern and obesity. DESIGN: Cross-sectional population study with assessment of quantity and frequency of alcohol intake, waist and hip circumference, height, weight, and lifestyle factors including diet. SUBJECTS: In all, 25 325 men and 24 552 women aged 50-65 y from the Diet, Cancer and Health Study, Denmark, 1993-1997 participated in the study. MEASUREMENTS: Drinking frequency, total alcohol intake, body mass index (BMI), and waist and hip circumference. RESULTS: Among men, total alcohol intake was positively associated with high BMI (>/=30 kg/m(2)), large waist circumference (>/=102 cm) and inversely associated with small hip circumference (<100 cm). Among women, the total alcohol was associated with high BMI, large waist (>/=88 cm), and small hips only for the highest intake (28+ drinks/week). The most frequent drinkers had the lowest odds ratios (OR) for being obese. Among men, OR for having a high BMI were 1.39 (95% confidence interval: 1.36-1.64), 1.17 (1.02-1.34), 1.00 (reference), 0.87 (0.77-0.98), and 0.73 (0.65-0.82) for drinking 1-3 days/month, 1 day/week, 2-4 days/week, 5-6 days/week, and 7 days/week, respectively. Similar estimates were found for waist circumference. Corresponding results were found for women. CONCLUSION: For a given level of total alcohol intake, obesity was inversely associated with drinking frequency, whereas the amount of alcohol intake was positively associated with obesity. These results indicate that frequent drinking of small amounts of alcohol is the optimal drinking pattern in this relation.

[Diet, cancer and health--a population study and establishment of a biological bank in Denmark]. / Kost, kraeft og helbred--en befolkningsundersøgelse og etablering af en biologisk bank i Danmark.

In order to test hypotheses on diet and the risk of cancer, a prospective cohort study was established. A total of 57,055 persons living in Copenhagen and Aarhus, between 50 and 65 years of age, visited a study clinic between December 1993 and May 1997. The participants provided questionnaire data on diet and lifestyle. Furthermore, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure and biological material were collected. All participants will be followed by linkage to health registries including the Cancer Registry and by self-administered follow-up questionnaires. The purpose of this publication is to describe the data-base, which will be available for research in the years to come including the results of the first two years of follow-up.

[The connection between food and alcohol intake habits among 48.763 Danish men and women. A cross-sectional study in the project "Food, cancer and health"]. / Sammenhaengen mellem kost og alkoholvaner blandt 48.763 danske maend og kvinder. En tvaersnitsundersøgelse i projektet "Kost, kraeft og helbred".

Variation in diet associated with drinking patterns may partly explain why wine seems to reduce ischaemic heart disease mortality. In a cross-sectional study conducted in Copenhagen and Aarhus from 1995 to 1997 including 23,284 men and 25,479 women aged 50-64 years, the relation between intake of different alcoholic beverages and selected indicators of a healthy diet was investigated. In multivariate analyses, wine, as compared with other alcoholic drinks, was associated with a higher intake of fruit, fish, cooked vegetables, salad, the use of olive oil for cooking and not using fat spread on rye bread. In conclusion, the association between wine drinking and an intake of a healthy diet may have implications for the interpretation of previous reports of the relation between type of alcoholic beverage and ischaemic heart disease mortality.

[Relationship between diet, nutritional status and prostatic cancer]. / Sammenhaengen mellem kost, ernaeringstilstand og prostatacancer.

Several epidemiological investigations suggest an association between diet and prostatic cancer. The most consistent finding has been a risk-enhancing effect of a diet rich in fat, especially animal fat. There is some evidence that dietary fat acts in late prostatic carcinogenesis by promoting the progression from focal to clinical disease, and that this effect may be due to an influence on the hormonal system. Data on other dietary factors, especially vitamin A and beta-carotene, are equivocal. This is probably partly due to the fact that most of the epidemiological studies have been based on limited dietary information. It is unclear whether the nutritional status influences the development of prostatic cancer, and if so, which anthropometric measurements are associated with an increased risk. Future studies should aim at estimating dietary exposures more precisely than hitherto by using calibrated dietary assessment methods that permit adjustment for total energy intake and combining these with biochemical methods. It will also be important to further investigate relations between diet, nutritional status and the hormonal system.