Weekly Roundup: Low risk of hospitalization for moderate alcohol drinkers

14 Dec 2018 --- In nutrition research this week, a study has found that the relationship between poverty and obesity is about 30 years old, only becoming observable in the early 1990s. Secondly, moderate alcohol drinkers, in the general framework of the Mediterranean diet principles, have a lower risk of being hospitalized compared to heavier drinkers, but also to the teetotallers. Lastly, a large three-generational study from Stockholm University has found that a paternal grandfather's access to food during his childhood is associated with mortality risk, especially cancer mortality, in his grandson.

People living in poverty in the US are disproportionately affected by obesity; however, the relationship between poverty and obesity is only about 30 years old, a study published in Palgrave Communications has found. The research shows that since 1990, the correlation between household income and obesity rate has grown steadily, from virtually no correlation to a robust correlation by 2016. For Damian Ruck, post-doctoral Research Fellow in the UT Department of Anthropology and co-author of the study, the emergence of this correlation between income and obesity is a radical departure from what has been usual for most of human history. “The fact that rich people are now the skinny ones is the opposite to what has been true in most cultures for most of the time,” he says.

Those who consume alcohol moderately – one glass of wine a day – in the general framework of the Mediterranean diet principles have a lower risk of being hospitalized compared to heavier drinkers and teetotallers. The research, published in Addiction, involved 21,000 participants followed for over six years. During this period, their drinking habits were related to their number of hospital admissions. Heavy alcohol consumption was associated with a higher probability of hospitalization, especially for cancer and alcohol-related disease, while moderate alcohol consumption presented a lower risk of hospitalization for all causes and for cardiovascular diseases compared to lifetime abstainers and former drinkers.

A paternal grandfather's access to food during his childhood is associated with mortality risk, especially cancer mortality, in his grandson, a large three-generational study from Stockholm University has found. The reason may be epigenetic, meaning that environmental exposures in one generation may influence health outcomes in following generations. If a paternal grandfather had good access to food and experienced unusually high yields as a young boy, his grandson – but not granddaughter – has a higher mortality risk, the study shows. Especially high was the risk of cancer mortality. Accounting for social factors, such as education, family size and income, the correlation between access to food and mortality in grandsons was enhanced. The researchers do not claim to explain the causal relationship but believe that epigenetics might be the key.