Consumption of alcoholic beverages and abdominal obesity: cross-sectional analysis of ELSA-Brasil.

The objective was to analyze the association between alcohol consumption and abdominal adiposity in adults. Cross-sectional study conducted at baseline data from ELSA-Brasil (2008- 2010). The sample consisted of 15,065 civil servants from six education and research institutions (35 to 74 years old, both sexes). To identify central adiposity by measuring waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), the cutoff points recommended by the World Health Organization were used. Poisson regression models adjusted for potentially confounding variables were tested. About 40% of the sample had elevated WC and WHR. The probability of having elevated WC was 5% and 3% higher in the most exposed group of beer consumption in men and women when compared to the reference group [PR= 1.05 (95% CI 1.02-1.08) and P R= 1.03 (95% CI 1.00-1.07)]. A higher probability of having a high WHR was also found among the highest beer consumers [PR = 1.03 (95% CI 1.00-1.07) in men and PR = 1.10 (95% CI 1.04-1.15) in women]. A greater number of doses/week of alcoholic drink increased the probability of occurrence of high WC and WHR, with the beer contribution being more important.