Men consume more calories from alcoholic drinks than women; drink more beer than other alcohol
THURSDAY, Nov. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Among U.S. adults, about 100 calories per day come from consumption of alcoholic beverages, according to a November data brief issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
Samara Joy Nielsen, Ph.D., from the NCHS in Hyattsville, Md., and colleagues used data from 24-hour dietary recall interviews to examine the caloric contribution of alcoholic beverages among U.S. adults aged 20 years or older, during 2007 to 2010.
The researchers found that an average of almost 100 calories per day came from alcoholic beverages consumed by U.S. adults, with men consuming more calories than women from alcoholic beverages, and consuming more beer than other types of alcohol. Compared with older adults, younger adults consumed more calories from alcoholic drinks. There were no differences seen based on race or ethnicity for the average calories consumed from alcoholic beverages.
"On a given day, consumers of alcoholic beverages obtain approximately 16 percent of their total caloric intake from alcoholic beverages," the authors write. "Because alcohol is considered part of discretionary solid fats and added sugars, the percentage of total calories from alcohol alone is above the recommended 5 to 15 percent."
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