Association between alcohol consumption and Korean young women's bone health: a cross sectional study from the 2008 to 2011 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the association between alcohol consumption and healthy Korean young women bone by Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores and drinking consumption; frequency and amount. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study composed of three parts: health interview, health examination, nutrition survey. SETTING: 2008-2011 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. PARTICIPANTS: Of the 21,303 participants whose bone mineral density (BMD) was assessed, 1176 healthy women aged 19-30 years were selected. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Mean BMD T-scores of the total femur (TF), femur neck (FN) and lumbar spine (LB) by drinking consumption and AUDIT scores, and the odds of having a low BMD (T-score <-1) at the sites by AUDIT scores. RESULTS: After adjustment, lower BMD was found at three sites in those who drank more and had higher AUDIT scores. These associations were significant by AUDIT scores at TF (p=0.002) and FN (p=0.004) and by drinking frequency and amount at FN (p=0.029 and 0.039, respectively). The adjusted OR of having low BMD increased significantly, particularly at FN, in those who had higher AUDIT scores such as 16-17 harmful drinking (OR 4.31; 95% CI 1.16 to 16.06) and 20-40 alcohol dependence (OR 5.99; 95% CI 1.69 to 21.21), compared with young women who scored 0-7 low-risk drinking or abstinence. No beneficial effect of moderate drinking was observed at any of the sites and the association between alcohol consumption and bone health was most evident at FN. CONCLUSIONS: It is crucial to promote the awareness of alcohol harm on Korean young women's bone health. At the same time, since alcohol's effect on the bone is complex with cumulative effects of various factors over the years and there is an absence of studies with young women in their twenties, more studies, in particular for FN, are needed with more precise and appropriate design to confirm our findings.

Korean public opinion on alcohol control policy: a cross-sectional International Alcohol Control study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine Korean public opinions toward alcohol control measures on availability, advertisement, drink-driving and pricing policy, and how the views on alcohol control policy vary by demographics, drinking patterns and attitude to drinking environments. METHODS: The study used national-based, cross-sectional data collected in 2012 as part of the International Alcohol Control study. 2510 people (M: 1163, F: 1261) aged 15-65 and living in geographically diverse regions of Korea completed the questionnaire asking the support of 12 alcohol control measures. RESULTS: Generally, targeted measures (purchase age of 20 and drink-driving) were more popular than universal (availability, advertisement and price) among Koreans. Gender, age, marital status, drinking patterns and attitude to drinking environments related to alcohol use of young and heavy drinkers were strong predictors of the opinions on most of the alcohol control measures. It was daily/weekly drinkers who opposed most restrictions on alcohol availability and price and the support from individuals who are more aware of problems with drinking in public place was outstanding in every control measure. CONCLUSION: These findings should be taken into account by Korean policy-makers as they formulate an alcohol policy for the country.