Abstract
Alcohol and physical inactivity are risk factors for a variety of cancer types. However, alcohol use often co-occurs with physical activity (PA), which could mitigate the cancer-prevention benefits of PA. Alcohol is integrated into the culture of one of the most popular physical activities for adults in the United States (U.S.), golf. This study examined how alcohol use was associated with total PA, golf-specific PA, and motives for golfing in a national sample of golfers in the U.S. Adult golfers (n = 338; 51% male, 81% White, 46 ± 14.4 years) self-reported alcohol use, golfing behavior and motives, and PA. Most (84%) golfers consumed alcohol, averaging 7.91 servings/week. Golf participation, including days/week, holes/week, and practice hours/week, was not associated with alcohol use. Golfers with stronger social motives were 60% more likely to consume alcohol. Weekly walking (incident risk ratio (IRR) = 7.30), moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA; IRR = 5.04), and total PA (IRR = 4.14) were associated with more alcohol servings/week. Golfers’ alcohol use may be higher than the general adult population in the U.S. and contributes 775 extra kilocalories/week, a surplus that may offset PA-related energy expenditure and cancer-protective effects. Alcohol use interventions targeting golfers may facilitate weight loss and reduce cancer risk, especially for golfers motivated by social status.
Highlights
Alcohol is a Group 1 carcinogen that directly increases the risk of a multitude of cancers, including increasing the risk of breast and colon cancer by 40–60% [1,2]
We propose that motives for participating in physical activities, such as golf, may be linked with alcohol use
We did not compare our sample with a matched sample of non-golfers, these results suggest that golfers may be more likely to consume alcohol than the general population
Summary
Alcohol is a Group 1 carcinogen that directly increases the risk of a multitude of cancers, including increasing the risk of breast and colon cancer by 40–60% [1,2]. While alcohol use is associated with increased risk for obesity and many cancers, physical activity (PA) is associated with lower body mass index and reduced cancer risk [11,12] Despite these opposing effects, research indicates that PA and alcohol use often co-occur, such that physically active adults are more likely to consume alcohol [13,14,15]. This antagonistic clustering of PA with alcohol use is unusual given that health behaviors typically co-occur synergistically just as health risk behaviors tend to co-occur [16,17,18,19]. Nutrients 2021, 13, 1856 more alcohol if they (1) engaged in more golfing-specific activities, (2) reported higher levels of social motives for golfing, and (3) engaged in more PA overall
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