CDC Issues Caution on Alcohol Health Claims

Moderate drinkers may be in better health overall than nondrinkers, skewing research results associating alcohol consumption with healthier hearts, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says.

The Associated Press reported April 19 that CDC researchers reviewed survey data on 250,000 Americans and found that nondrinkers had more risk factors for heart disease, such as being overweight and inactive or having high blood pressure or diabetes. Moderate drinkers tended to be healthier, better educated, wealthier, and more active, the researchers said.

"It appears that moderate drinkers have many social and lifestyle characteristics that favor their survival over nondrinkers and few of these differences are likely due to alcohol consumption itself," the study concluded. Added lead author Tim Naimi of the CDC's chronic-disease division: "We're feeling the pendulum has swung way too far, and Americans are getting sort of the wrong idea" about alcohol use.

The study was published in the May 2005 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.