Alcohol Consumption and Metabolic Syndrome among Hispanics/Latinos: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos

Background: The association between alcohol consumption and metabolic syndrome (MetS) among Hispanic/Latino populations has not been studied in great detail. Our study examined the relationship between alcohol consumption and MetS among U.S. Hispanics/Latinos and explored whether this relationship varied by age, body mass index, gender, and Hispanic/Latino backgrounds. Methods: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) is a multisite, prospective, population-based, cohort study of Hispanics/Latinos, ages 18-74 years from four U.S. communities. Participants were categorized into never, former, occasional, low, moderate, and high alcohol consumption categories. A cross-sectional analysis of 15,905 participants with complete data was conducted. Survey design appropriate chi-squared and logistic regression models were run to detect significant associations between alcohol consumption categories and cases of MetS. Results: Almost half (47.4%) of the sample was classified as occasional, low, moderate, or heavy drinkers. Low and moderate alcohol consumers had lower odds of MetS than never drinkers. Low and heavy drinkers had higher odds of presenting with elevated central obesity, while occasional, low, moderate, and heavy drinkers had higher odds of having low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels compared to never drinkers. Low and moderate wine drinkers had lower odds of MetS compared to never drinkers. There were no significant findings among beer or liquor drinkers, or with binge drinking after model adjustments. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that low and moderate alcohol consumption may lower the odds of MetS in a sample of Hispanic/Latino adults, but that the relationship of alcohol consumption varies with the individual components of MetS.