Alcohol and food: Tackling ‘the Kebab effect’

The need to link public health policies on alcohol with those on food has been highlighted by a new report from the Public Health Unit at John Moores University.

Despite obesity and alcohol being two of the biggest threats to public health, people are often unaware, the report says, of the health links between food and alcohol, with little or no public information on how alcohol consumption affects food cravings, whether eating reduces drunkenness, and how both eating and drinking in excess increase risks of developing major diseases. The new report explains how the two areas of concern are, in fact, intertwined in a range of ways, and not just in the obvious one that alcoholic drinks contain large numbers of calories.

Many people are likely to have multiple behavioural health risks linked to obesity, smoking and alcohol behaviours which, together, are likely to reinforce and accelerate each other’s contributions to illness and premature death related to cardiovascular disease, cancer and liver disease in the UK. Indeed, food and alcohol problems may have similar roots, in that poor education and negative childhood experiences have been linked to low levels of physical activity, obesity and alcohol problems in later life.

The authors identify nightlife as a particularly important context for combined food and alcohol issues. For example, while food in the stomach may delay absorption of alcohol, and hence reduce drunkenness, drinking alcohol can affect levels of hunger and food preferences, and consumption may increase preferences for fatty and high sugar foods, with such cravings contributing to risks of obesity, what the authors term ‘the kebab effect’.

In a recent survey of English drinkers aged 18-35 years, a substantial proportion reported eating crisps or nuts, which, being salty, are likely to increase thirst and hence alcohol consumption, whilst others reported consuming pizzas, burgers, chips or kebabs when drinking more than two alcoholic drinks. The authors point out that in what would be considered a typical night out in this age group, people not only exceeded by a wide margin the recommended maximum consumption of alcohol, they also consumed, with food and drink combined, little short of the entire daily recommended maximum intake of calories.

The authors conclude that UK policy should address the links between alcohol and food in order to maximize the effectiveness of public health responses and to enable people to make healthier choices. This should include proper labeling of alcohol products. The UK population, they say, needs urgently to move away from seeing alcohol as a means to get drunk, towards a Mediterranean culture of seeing alcohol as an accompaniment to food, with both being consumed in moderation.

The publication, ‘Alcohol and Food - Making the public health connections’; Morleo, M; Bellis, M A; Perkins, C; Hannon, K L; Clegg, K; Cook, P A - January 2010, can be downloaded at: http://www.cph.org.uk/ publications.aspx