Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Calories from Alcohol Almost Equals Soda for Adults



The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study that found adults get almost as many empty calories from booze as they do from soda.

Soda gets a lot of bad press for contributing to unwanted weight gain, but a recent study points out the fizzy stuff isn’t the only thing we’re sipping that’s making us fat. Turns out that adults get almost as many calories from booze as they do from soft drinks.

Soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages contribute to about 6 percent of the average calories adults consume, while alcoholic beverages account for about 5 percent, according to the study released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

On average the study found that U.S. adults get 100 calories per day from alcohol — with about one-third of men and one-fifth of women actually consuming beer, wine, or liquor each day.

Men's calorie intake from alcohol was three times as high as women's on average —  150 calories a day compared to 50 daily calories. And those who drink alcoholic beverages get about 16 percent of their total caloric intake from them, according to the CDC.

The study found that men aged 20 to 39 consumed the greatest number of calories from alcoholic drinks—about 174 calories per day. Most of the calories for men come from beer, while women displayed no preference among major beverage categories.

In September the New York City Board of Health approved Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on the sale of soft drinks larger than 16 ounces. The ban, which applies to all restaurants and self-service stations, is scheduled to take effect in early 2013.

The study points out while calories from sweetened beverages have been previous examined, “calories from alcoholic beverages have been neglected.”

"We've been focusing on sugar-sweetened beverages. This is something new," said Cynthia Ogden, epidemiologist and one of the study's authors, according to the Associated Press.

New York City Health Department officials said that while studies show that sugary drinks are “a key driver of the obesity epidemic,” alcohol is not, according to the AP.

The alcohol study used data from 2007 to 2010 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of more than 11,000 U.S adults.

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