Wine drinking and diet in Italy.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the relation between wine drinking and intake of selected indicator foods, which may vary in various populations.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional analysis of the comparison group of a case- control study.

SETTING

A network of teaching and general hospitals from six Italian areas.

SUBJECTS

5642 control subjects (3261 females and 2381 males) aged 20-74 y (median age 58 y), admitted for acute, non-neoplastic conditions unrelated to alcohol consumption. Participation rate was over 95%.

INTERVENTION

Trained interviewers collected information using a structured and validated questionnaire. The average intakes of selected food items were computed, together with the multivariate odds ratios (OR) of eating above the median of each food.

RESULTS

No appreciable difference in either sex for any food indicator considered (fruit, raw vegetables, cooked vegetables, salad and fish) was observed between abstainers, wine, and other alcoholic beverage drinkers. If anything, female wine drinkers reported less frequently high consumption of salad (OR=0.8) and raw vegetables (OR=0.8), both estimates being of borderline significance.

CONCLUSIONS

In no instance did wine drinkers or mixed drinkers (who include a large proportion of wine drinkers, too) show an association with indicators of healthy diet.

SPONSORSHIP

Italian Association for Cancer Research, Milan, Italy. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2000) 54, 177-179