THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ALCOHOL-USE AND HEALTH BEHAVIORS RELATED TO THE RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASE - THE SOUTH-CAROLINA CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASE PREVENTION PROJECT

Objective: This study examines the relationship between alcohol use an d health behaviors related to the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) . In particular, we examined the relationship between alcohol use and leisure time physical activity, participation in community physical ac tivity programs and behaviors used for weight loss. Numerous studies h ave found a ''protective'' effect of moderate alcohol consumption on t he risk of CVD. However, most of these studies have not adequately con trolled for potential confounding by health behaviors associated with alcohol use. Method: We used descriptive and logistic regression analy ses to examine cross-sectional survey data from 2,072 participants in the South Carolina Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Project. Results: After controlling for age, race, education and preexisting CVD, moder ate and heavy drinkers who do not smoke were more likely than nondrink ers to report engaging in regular leisure time physical activity. The relationship between other health behaviors and alcohol consumption wa s less clear. Among men, moderate and heavy drinkers were no more like ly than nondrinkers to participate in community physical activity prog rams; among women, moderate and heavy drinkers were more likely than n ondrinkers to report this activity. Moderate drinkers were more likely than nondrinkers to report that they were attempting to lose weight, however this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions : These data suggest that at least some of the apparent protective eff ect of moderate alcohol consumption found in other studies may be due to differences between nondrinkers and drinkers with respect to physic al activity and other health practices.