The Emerging Link Between Alcoholism Risk and Obesity in the United States

Abstract

Context The prevalence of obesity has risen sharply in the United States in the past few decades. Etiologic links between obesity and substance use disorders have been hypothesized. Objective To determine whether familial risk for alcohol dependence predicts obesity, and whether any such association became stronger between the early 1990s and early 2000s. Design Repeated cross-sectional surveys; analyses of the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey (1991–92) and the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (2001–02) were conducted. Setting The non-institutionalized, adult population of the U.S. in 1991–92 and 2001–02. Participants Individuals drawn from population-based, multi-stage, random samples (N=39,312 and 39,625). Main Outcome Measures Obesity, defined as a body mass index >= 30 based on self-reported height and weight, and predicted from family history of alcoholism and/or problem drinking. Results In 2001–02, women with a family-history of alcoholism, operationalized as having biological parent or sibling with a history of alcoholism or alcohol problems, had 49% higher odds for obesity than those without a family history (OR=1.48, 95 % CI: 1.36, 1.61; p<0.0001), a highly significant increase (p<0.0001) from the odds ratio of 1.06 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.16) estimated for 1991–92. For men in 2001–02, the association was significant (OR=1.26; 95% CI: 1.14–1.38, p<0.0001), but not as strong as for women. Both the association and the secular trend for women were robust to adjustment for covariates, including sociodemographic variables smoking, alcohol use, alcohol/drug dependence, and major depression. Similar trends were observed for men, but did not meet statistical significance criteria after adjustment for covariates. Conclusion The results provide epidemiologic support for a link between familial alcoholism risk and obesity for women, and possibly for men. This link has emerged in recent years, and may result from an interaction between a changing food environment and predisposition to alcoholism and related disorders.

Nucleus accumbens response to food cues predicts subsequent snack consumption in women and increased body mass index in those with reduced self-control

“…For example, even subliminal reward cues (smiling faces) can increase beverage consumption in thirsty humans (Winkielman et al, 2005). Some individuals are particularly susceptible to our obesogenic environment (Grucza et al, 2010;Guerrieri et al, 2008), and there are marked individual differences in the extent to which food-associated cues hold attention (Tapper et al, 2010), motivate behaviour (Rollins et al, 2010) and critically, elicit food consumption (Fedoroff et al, 1997).…”

Eating Disorders as New Forms of Addiction

“…On the issue that is concerning us, there are a pair of publications that found a strong association between obesity and alcohol abuse [33,34].…”

Neuroscience of Reward: Implications for Food Addiction and Nutrition Policy

“…For example, a longitudinal study found that childhood maltreatment is linked to an increased risk of developing eating disorders [75]. Interestingly, a family history of alcohol abuse is also associated with an inherent preference for sweet tastes [76] and predicts the risk of obesity in young individuals [77]. Similarly, children of mothers who smoke during pregnancy are higher risk for developing eating disorders and weight problems [78].…”