International Journal of Drug Policy 25 (2014) 1131–1134 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Drug Policy j ourna l h om epage: www.elsevier.com/locate/drugpo Short report Mindless drinking: How gender and BMI relate to the consumption of alcohol Laura Smarandescu a,∗ , Doug Walker a , Brian Wansink b a Marketing, College of Business, Iowa State University, 3250 Gerdin Building, Ames, IA 50011, United States b Marketing, Department of Applied Economics and Management and Food and Brand lab at Cornell University, 15 Warren Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States Introduction In recent decades, excessive alcohol consumption has been a consistent trend in the young adult and student populations. A reliable finding is that men consume more alcohol than women (Johnson, O’Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2004; McCreary, Newcomb, & Sadave, 1999), and that those with high body mass indexes (BMIs) consume more alcohol than those with lower BMIs (Arif & Rohrer, 2005; Breslow & Smothers, 2005; Nies, Sun, Kazemi, Carriker, & Dmochowski, 2012). What is not yet known is how the relationship between BMI and alcohol consumption may vary as a function of gender (Colditz et al., 1991; Lahti-Koski, Pietinen, Heliövaara, & Vartiainen, 2002; Rohrer, Rohland, Denison, & Way, 2005). This study addresses this important question by examining self-reported drink counts of college students in a typical week for beer, wine and spirits. BMI, gender and alcohol consumption Past research has shown correlations between BMI and drinking quantity and/or frequency, however the findings are inconclusive (Arif & Rohrer, 2005; Breslow & Smothers, 2005; Nies et al., 2012). Some studies reported a positive relationship between the quantity of alcohol consumed and BMI; individuals consuming four or more drinks per day had significantly higher BMI than others who con- sumed only one drink a day (Breslow & Smothers, 2005). Also, heavy drinkers and binge drinkers had higher BMI levels than individ- uals who drank frequently small amounts of alcohol (Arif & Rohrer, 2005; Breslow & Smothers, 2005). However, frequency of drinking was found to be negatively related to BMI. Individuals who drank most frequently had lower BMI than participants who drank less frequently (Breslow & Smothers, 2005). ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 5150294 3065. E-mail address: smarand@iastate.edu (L. Smarandescu). Other studies found the relationship between BMI and drink- ing to be moderated by gender. Such studies report a negative correlation for women between BMI and both frequency and quan- tity of alcohol consumed (Colditz et al., 1991; Lahti-Koski et al., 2002; Rohrer et al., 2005). For men, the quantity of alcohol con- sumed was positively correlated with BMI; however, the frequency of alcohol consumption was not associated with BMI (Lahti-Koski et al., 2002). Other studies observed either a negative, or no cor- relation, between alcohol consumption and BMI for men (Colditz et al., 1991; Williamson et al., 1987). Gearhardt and Corbin (2009) examined BMI as a predictor of alcohol consumption and suggested that drinking quantity differs with BMI levels because heavier indi- viduals tend to drink more in order to attain comparable blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels. This may partly explain why men typically drink more than women, as men have higher aver- age weights than women. However, it is important to note that although BMI—alcohol consumption correlations have been shown, alcohol consumption has not been causally linked to higher BMI levels. Summary and aims There is ample evidence that men exceed women in over- all alcohol consumption, frequency of drinking, heavy drinking, intoxication, dependence, and alcoholism. This difference has been attributed to the fact that drinking alcohol is strongly associated with masculine identity (Johnson et al., 2004; McCreary et al., 1999), and is still viewed as a more socially acceptable behaviour for men than for women (Visser & McDonnell, 2012). Another rea- son why men drink more may be that on average, men weigh more than women and require higher alcohol intakes to achieve similar levels of intoxication. Gender, BMI, and self-reported drinking behaviour A correlational study was conducted with a 21 and older college student population. The purpose of the study was to uncover over- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.08.018 0955-3959/© 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.