NEW YORK (AP)
-- Americans get too many calories from soda. But what about alcohol?
It turns out adults get almost as many empty calories from booze as from
soft drinks, a government study found.
Soda
and other sweetened drinks - the focus of obesity-fighting public health
campaigns - are the source of about 6 percent of the calories adults
consume, on average. Alcoholic beverages account for about 5 percent,
the new study found.
"We've been focusing on
sugar-sweetened beverages. This is something new," said Cynthia Ogden,
one of the study's authors. She's an epidemiologist with the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention which released its findings Thursday.
The
government researchers say the findings deserve attention because, like
soda, alcohol contains few nutrients but plenty of calories.
But a liquor trade association said the findings indicate there's no big problem.
"This
research shows that the overwhelming majority of adults drink
moderately," Lisa Hawkins, a spokeswoman for the Distilled Spirits
Council, said in a statement.
The CDC study is
based on interviews with more than 11,000 U.S. adults from 2007 through
2010. Participants were asked extensive questions about what they ate
and drank over the previous 24 hours.
The study found:
-On any given day, about one-third of men and one-fifth of women consumed calories from beer, wine or liquor.
-Averaged out to all adults, the average guy drinks 150 calories from alcohol each day, or the equivalent of a can of Budweiser.
-The average woman drinks about 50 calories, or roughly half a glass of wine.
-Men drink mostly beer. For women, there was no clear favorite among alcoholic beverages.
-There
was no racial or ethnic difference in average calories consumed from
alcoholic beverages. But there was an age difference, with younger
adults putting more of it away.
For reference,
a 12-ounce can of regular Coca-Cola has 140 calories, slightly less
than a same-sized can of regular Bud. A 5-ounce glass of wine is around
100 calories.
In September, New York City
approved an unprecedented measure cracking down on giant sodas, those
bigger than 16 ounces, or half a liter. It will take effect in March and
bans sales of drinks that large at restaurants, cafeterias and
concession stands.
Should New York officials now start cracking down on tall-boy beers and monster margaritas?
There
are no plans for that, city health department officials said, adding in
a statement that while studies show that sugary drinks are "a key
driver of the obesity epidemic," alcohol is not.
Health
officials should think about enacting policies to limit alcoholic
intake, but New York's focus on sodas is appropriate, said Margo Wootan,
director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public
Interest, a public health advocacy group.
Soda
and sweetened beverages are the bigger problem, especially when it
comes to kids - the No. 1 source of calories in the U.S. diet, she said.
"In New York City, it was smart to start with sugary drinks. Let's see how it goes and then think about next steps," she said.
However,
she lamented that the Obama administration is planning to exempt
alcoholic beverages from proposed federal regulations requiring calorie
labeling on restaurant menus.
It could set up a
confusing scenario in which, say, a raspberry iced tea may have a
calorie count listed, while an alcohol-laden Long Island Iced Tea - with
more than four times as many calories - doesn't. "It could give people
the wrong idea," she said.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
