Convergence of Alcohol Consumption and Dietary Quality in US Adults Who Currently Drink Alcohol: An Analysis of Two Core Risk Factors of Liver Disease

Authors

Peng-Sheng Ting, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Wei-Ting Lin, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Suthat Liangpunsakul, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
Madeline Novack, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Chiung-Kuei Huang, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Hui-Yi Lin, LSU Health Sciences Center - New OrleansFollow
Tung-Sung Tseng, LSU Health Sciences Center - New OrleansFollow
Po-Hung Chen, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-13-2024

Publication Title

Nutrients

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Alcohol consumption and poor dietary habits are on the rise in the United States, posing significant challenges to public health due to their contribution to chronic diseases such as liver failure. While associations between alcohol consumption patterns and diet quality have been explored, the relationship between specific alcoholic beverage types and diet quality remains underexamined. This study aims to compare diet quality among consumers of different alcoholic beverage types. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1917 current alcohol drinkers from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) who completed a 24 h dietary recall survey. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), with higher scores indicating superior diet quality. Multivariable logistic regression models were employed to assess differences in HEI between consumers of various alcoholic beverage types, using wine-only drinkers as the reference group and controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, and metabolic syndrome variables. RESULTS: Beer-only drinkers were more likely to have lower income, higher rates of cigarette smoking, and insufficient physical activity compared to other alcohol consumers. In the fully adjusted multivariable model, beer-only drinkers had an HEI score that was 3.12 points lower than wine-only drinkers. In contrast, liquor/cocktail-only and multiple-type drinkers had similar HEI scores to wine-only drinkers. CONCLUSIONS: Beer-only consumption is associated with poorer diet quality among alcohol drinkers. Targeted patient education and public health campaigns may be effective in addressing the combined impact of alcohol consumption and poor diet quality on chronic disease risk.

PubMed ID

39599652

Volume

16

Issue

22

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Ting, Peng-Sheng; Lin, Wei-Ting; Liangpunsakul, Suthat; Novack, Madeline; Huang, Chiung-Kuei; Lin, Hui-Yi; Tseng, Tung-Sung; and Chen, Po-Hung, "Convergence of Alcohol Consumption and Dietary Quality in US Adults Who Currently Drink Alcohol: An Analysis of Two Core Risk Factors of Liver Disease" (2024). School of Public Health Faculty Publications. 446.
https://digitalscholar.lsuhsc.edu/soph_facpubs/446
10.3390/nu16223866