Table 1.

Summary of trends in cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental studies examining the link between alcohol intake and measures of adiposity

	Trend	Study (measurement)
		Men	Women
Cross-sectional studies	No association	Colditz et al. [8] (BMI) Gruchow et al. [6] (BMI) Williamson et al. [13] (BMI) Croezen et al. [20] (In 15–16 year olds, overweight risk)	Alcacera et al. [28] (BMI) Croezen et al. [20] (In 15–16 year olds, overweight risk)
	Positive association	Alcacera et al. [28] (Only men above median age, BMI) Croezen et al. [20] (Only in 13–14 year olds, overweight risk) Sung et al. [27] (BMI)
	Negative association	Liangpunsakul [9] (BMI, WHR) Rohrer et al. [10] (Obesity rate)	Colditz et al. [8] (BMI) Gruchow et al. [6] (BMI) Liangpunsakul [9] (BMI, WHR) Rohrer et al. [10] (Obesity rate) Skrzypczak et al. [11] (BMI, WHR) Williamson et al. [13] (BMI)
	J-shaped	Arif & Rohrer [19] (Obesity risk) Duvigneaud et al. [21] (combined WC and BMI) Lukasiewicz et al. [22] (WHR, BMI) Wakabayashi [23] (WC) Wannamethee, Shaper & Whincup [17] (BMI, WC, WHR)	Arif & Rohrer [19] (Obesity risk) Duvigneaud et al. [21] (combined WC and BMI) Tolstrup et al. [16] (BMI, WC) Wakabayashi [23] (WC)
	Binge/ heavy drinking positively associated	Arif & Rohrer [19] (Obesity rate) Coulson et al. [18] (BMI, WC, body fat %) Lee [25] (WC) Shelton & Knott [24] (Risk of obesity)	Arif & Rohrer [19] (Obesity rate) Lee [25] (WC) Shelton & Knott [24] (Risk of obesity)
	Frequency negatively associated, Intensity positively associated	Breslow & Smothers [14] (BMI) French et al. [15] (BMI) Tolstrup et al. [16] (BMI, WC)	French et al. [15] (BMI)
Longitudinal studies	No association	Arabshahi [32] (Change in BMI, WC) alkjaer et al. [33] (Change in WC) Holloway et al. [30] (Change in BMI) Pajari et al. [35] (Change in BMI) Romaguera et al. [41] (Change in WC) Tolstrup et al. [38] (Change in WC)	Arabshahi [32] (Change in BMI, WC) Economos et al. [43] (Weight gain) French et al. [15] (Change in BMI) Halkjaer et al. [33] (Change in WC) Holloway et al. [30] (Change in BMI) Pajari et al. [35] (Change in BMI) Sammel et al. [36] (Weight gain of >10lbs)
	Drinkers gain more over follow-up	Bell, Ge & Popkins [42] (Risk of weight gain) Hou et al. [40] (Risk of weight gain)	Bell, Ge & Popkins [42] (Risk of weight gain) Romaguera et al. [41] (Change in WC) Wanamethee et al. [14] (Only in African American participants, change in weight >5kg)
	Drinkers gain less over follow-up	Liu et al. [34] (Risk of major weight gain)	Hou et al. [40] (Risk of weight gain) Liu et al. [34] (Risk of major weight gain) Thompson et al. [37] (Change in weight) Tolstrup et al. [38] (Change in WC) Wang et al. [39] (Weight gain)
	Increases in drinking pattern positively associated	Economos et al. [43] (Weight gain) French et al. [14] (Change in BMI) Mozafarrian et al. [31] (Weight gain)	Wanamethee et al. [12] (Change in weight >5kg) Schutze et al. [47] (Change in WC)
	Positive association only in heavy drinking	Halkjaer et al. [33] (Wine only, change in WC) MacInnis et al. [44•] (Change in BMI, WC) Rissanen et al. [45] (Risk of weight gain) Sayon-Orea et al. [46] (Risk of weight gain, obesity) Schutze et al. [47] (Change in weight, WC)	MacInnis et al. [44•] (Change in BMI, WC) Rissanen et al. [45] (Risk of weight gain) Sayon-Orea et al. [46] (Risk of weight gain, obesity) Wanamethee et al. [12] (Change in weight >5kg)
Experimental studies	No significant effect of alcohol intake	Cordain et al. [49] (Weight, body fat %, others) Beulens et al. [51] (Weight, Body fat distribution) Fletchner-Mors et al. [53] (Change in weight) Crouse & Grundy [48] (Normal weight participants, change in weight) Romeo et al. [52] (Weight gain, WC)	Cordain et al. [50] (Body weight, body fat %) Fletchner-Mors et al. [53] (Change in weight) Romeo et al. [52] (Weight gain, WC)
	Positive impact of alcohol consumption	Crouse & Grundy [48] (Half of obese patients, change in weight) Romeo et al. [52] (Biceps skinfold only)	Romeo et al. [52] (Biceps skinfold)

BMI = body mass index, WC = waist circumference, WHR = waist-to-hip ratio