Slim-line tonic for moderate drinkers

Heavy drinkers are far more likely to be obese than moderate drinkers. No surprise there. But non-drinkers are also more likely to be obese than moderate drinkers.

Moderate drinkers - people who have an alcoholic drink or two a day - are 54% less likely than non-drinkers to be obese. Heavy drinking, on the other hand, raised the odds of obesity. People who downed four or more drinks a day were 46% more likely to be obese than non-drinkers were. Binge drinkers also showed a greater prevalence of obesity.

Many studies have linked moderate drinking to better heart health, but this is one of the first to look at the relationship between drinking and body weight.

'It's a fairly new line of research,' said study co-author James E. Rohrer, a professor of health services research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

It's possible, he told Reuters, that the lower prevalence of obesity among moderate drinkers helps explain the lower risk of heart disease.

It's not yet clear why moderate drinking is related to lesser odds of obesity. Alcoholic drinks are, of course, high in calories so teetotallers are not advised to take up drinking to lose weight. On the other hand, cutting it out completely might not be the best weight-loss strategy, either.

The findings are published online in the US journal BMC Public Health.