As part of a nationwide study, the European Association for the Study of Obesity studied more than 25 million South Korean adults and unveiled negative implications for even light alcohol intake.
According to their new study, the consumption of even half an alcoholic drink per day could substantially increase the risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome among both genders.
An alcoholic drink can be measured as 14g of pure ethanol consumed per day.
Among males, the consumption of half and one standard alcohol drink per day led to a nearly 10 percent increase in developing obesity and metabolic syndrome. Two alcohol drinks per day, meanwhile, could raise the risk to 25 percent.
For women, consuming half and one drink per day resulted in a 9 percent increased risk of obesity.
“Our results suggest that the risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome increases in proportion to alcohol consumption when male and female adults drink more than half a standard drink per day,” the co-authors concluded in a news release.
The findings were determined based on data analysis from 2015 to 2016 from the Korean National Health Insurance System.
