Search resultsAlcohol consumption and health-promoting behavior in a U.S. Household sample: Leisure-time physical activity
Title
Alcohol consumption and health-promoting behavior in a U.S. Household sample: Leisure-time physical activity
Publication type
Journal Article
Year of Publication
2001
Authors
Journal
Journal of Studies on Alcohol
Volume
62
Issue
4
Pagination
467 - 476
Date published
2001
ISBN
0096882X (ISSN)
Keywords
Adult, alcohol consumption, Alcohol Drinking, article, behavior, cardiovascular risk, cigarette smoking, Coronary Disease, Cross-Sectional Studies, Exercise, Female, Health Behavior, heart protection, human, Humans, ischemic heart disease, leisure, Leisure Activities, lifestyle, major clinical study, male, Middle Aged, Periodicity, physical activity, Questionnaires, Regression Analysis, smoking, statistical analysis, Temperance, United States
Abstract
Objective: Hypothesizing that people who moderate their alcohol intake engage in other health-promoting cardioprotective behavior, this research explored associations between alcohol consumption and leisure-time physical activity. Method: Data representative of the U.S. population (N = 41,104; 52.5% women) were derived from the 1990 National Health Interview Survey, which employed a multistage probability design. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed, using lifetime abstainers as the reference group. Results: An inverted J-shaped curve characterized the association between estimates of alcohol consumption and leisure-time physical activity, in which likelihood of displaying a physically active lifestyle (odds ratios) increased from abstinence (1.00) to moderate drinking (1.84), then declined at heavier consumption (1.61). Stratified analyses yielded similar results with peaks at light or moderate consumption for current smokers, persons aged 55 and over, and those with cardiovascular risk conditions. As activity intensity increased, the inverted J-shaped curve persisted with more pronounced peaks at moderate drinking. Conclusions: Robust findings of an association between cardioprotective leisure-time physical activity and moderate alcohol consumption provide evidence for a health-promoting lifestyle that may play an explanatory role in the alcohol-coronary heart disease relationship.