Background:
Excessive alcohol consumption is related to weight gain, and may have an effect on body fat distribution with metabolic change. However, it is not clear whether the pattern of body fat distribution is different according to the kinds of alcoholic beverages. The purpose of this study is to investigate the body fat distribution indices according to the kinds of alcoholic beverages in Korean.
Methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 18,198 people using the Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey data from July 2008 to May 2011. Body fat distribution patterns were analyzed for body composition using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. According to the questionnaire about alcohol drinking frequency, the preferred kinds of alcoholic beverages were classified into eight groups: beer group, soju group, rice wine group, beer-soju combination, beer-rice wine combination, soju-rice wine combination, beer-soju-rice wine combination, and infrequent drinking group. Age, smoking, physical activity, and daily caloric intake were used as confounding variables. Survey analysis was executed.
Results:
In men, soju group and beer-soju combination group showed higher trunk fat mass, trunk fat/leg fat ratio and trunk fat/limb fat ratio than beer group. In the premenopausal women, soju group and beer-soju-rice wine group showed higher trunk fat mass, trunk fat/leg fat ratio and trunk fat/limb fat ratio than beer group. However, in the postmenopausal women, there were no significant differences in trunk fat/leg fat ratio and trunk fat/limb fat ratio according to the kinds of alcoholic beverages.
Conclusion:
Soju and its combination drinking habit is related to central body fat accumulation in Korean adult men and premenopausal women comparing with beer drinking habit.