Drinking alcohol is rarely a health-focused activity, but scientists in England have found that more nutritional information on alcoholic drinks could improve drinkers' habits.
Specifically, 46.4 percent of the drinkers surveyed by scientists at University College London (UCL) said that they would change their drinking patterns if alcohol came with calorie labels.
"A 12oz can of Coca-Cola contains 155 calories. A standard serving of wine in the U.S. is 5oz, and this will contain around 110 calories," lead author Professor Andrew Steptoe, of UCL Behavioural Science and Health, told Newsweek.
"We drink beer in pints in the U.K., and there are around 150 to 199 calories in a pint of beer. So, the calories are in the same range for alcoholic and some soft drinks.
"But the important issue is that calories in alcohol drinks are hidden, because people are not well aware of them. By contrast, there is great awareness of calories in soft drinks, hence the availability of lower calorie options such as Diet Coke, Coke Light, etc."
Calories are a measure of how much energy a food contains, and excess consumption can lead to weight gain, obesity and chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
"About 9 percent of calories consumed by men and 5 percent by women come from alcoholic drinks," said Steptoe in a statement. "Alcohol calorie labelling could therefore contribute in a modest way to helping people maintain a healthy weight."
The UCL scientists based their study on responses from a survey of 4,683 adults in England, collected between November 2022 and January 2023.
Respondents were asked about their drinking habits, including how much they drank and the impact alcohol had on their daily life—and they were then split into three categories.
A quarter of respondents—24.7 percent—were classed as "non-drinkers" and the rest as "drinkers."
These drinkers were then divided between "low-risk" and "hazardous" groups, with 77.6% classed as "low-risk."
The scientists found that heavy, or hazardous, drinkers were more likely to say they would change their drinking habits if they were given calorie information, compared to light, or low-risk, drinkers.
"Our research suggests that, if labelling was introduced, around half of drinkers who are drinking at potentially hazardous levels say that they would reduce their consumption by having fewer drinks, or drinking less often," said Steptoe. "But light drinkers are not so likely to change their drinking.
"This is not too surprising, because these individuals are not consuming many calories in their drinks."
The difference between the groups was not particularly pronounced; 54 percent of heavy drinkers said they would change their drinking habits in response to calorie labelling, compared with 44 percent of light drinkers.
In the heavy drinking group, 27 percent said they would choose lower calorie drinks, if given calorie information, 18 percent said they would drink less often, and 17 percent said they would consumer fewer drinks.
But there is a difference between what people say and what they would actually do, so it is unclear whether the habits of heavy drinkers would actually change if they were aware of the calories in their alcoholic beverages.
"We carried out this research in the context of obesity and healthy weight, not in relation to problem drinking," said Steptoe. "If regular or heavy drinkers were more aware of calorie content, they might decide to drink differently.
"We believe that consumers should be given the information that will help them make informed choices about their drinking.
"There is debate going on in the USA about providing more nutrition and ingredient data on alcohol beverages, just as there is on many foods. Many consumers want this information to help them make choices about what they drink."
Overall, 58 percent of the people asked said they believed that calorie information on alcoholic drinks would be useful, 64 percent wanted it to be available in stores and superstores, and 52 percent said it should be available in pubs, bars and restaurants.
This study was published in BMJ Open and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Obesity Policy Research Programme.
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Reference
Steptoe, A., Sheen, F., Conway, R., Llewellyn, C., Brown, J. (2024). Potential impact of alcohol calorie labelling on the attitudes and drinking behaviour of hazardous and low-risk drinkers in England: a national survey, BMJ Open, 14(8): e087491. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-087491
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