Korean J Fam Pract. 2018; 8(3): 411-416  https://doi.org/10.21215/kjfp.2018.8.3.411
The Relationship between Alcohol Consumption and Body Fat Distribution Measured by Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry in Korean: The Fourth and Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2008-2011)
Hyun Kyung Park1, Jung Hae Lee1, Jee Hye Lee1, Kyu Rae Lee2, Kyoung Kon Kim1,*
1Department of Family Medicine, Gachon University Gil Hospital; 2Department of Family Medicine, Gachon University Dongincheon Gil Hospital, Incheon, Korea
Kyoung Kon Kim
Tel: +82-32-460-3354, Fax: +82-32-460-3354
E-mail: zaduplum@aim.com
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0374-2571
Received: May 30, 2017; Revised: August 15, 2017; Accepted: August 28, 2017; Published online: June 20, 2018.
© The Korean Academy of Family Medicine. All rights reserved.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background: We investigated the relationship between alcohol consumption and body fat distribution.
Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 18,198 adults using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Survey data between July 2008 and May 2011. Body composition was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Alcohol consumption was assessed using a questionnaire regarding drinking habits. Patients were classified into a problem- and a non-problem drinking group based on the alcohol consumption frequencies during the last year and the average reported alcohol consumption per drinking episode. Age, smoking, physical activity, and daily caloric intake were considered confounding variables.
Results: In men, the body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and DXA indices such as trunk-to-leg fat ratio and the trunk-to-limb fat ratio were significantly higher in the problem drinking than in the non-problem drinking group. In premenopausal women, BMI, WC, and the trunk-to-leg fat ratio and the trunk-to-limb fat ratio were higher in the problem drinking group considering the role of other confounders. Although there were no significant differences in BMI and WC based on drinking habits in postmenopausal women, the trunk-to-leg fat ratio and the trunk-to-limb fat ratio were significantly higher in the problem drinking than in the non-problem drinking group.
Conclusion: Excessive intake of alcohol is related to central body fat accumulation and may contribute to the development of central obesity by affecting body fat distribution in Korean adults.
Keywords: Obesity; Abdominal; Alcohol Drinking; Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry
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