ArticlePloS one2023
Associations between physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and alcohol consumption among UK adults: Findings from the Health Behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic (HEBECO) study.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Associations between domain-specific physical activity, sedentary behavior, and binge drinking among adults in the United States and China: evidence from a cross-sectional study, daily tracking, and randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in public health · 2025Trial
- Association Between Relative Fat Mass and Cardiometabolic Disease: Age-Stratified Analysis in Young and Middle-Aged Versus Older Adults.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Article
- Impact of Physical Activity on Health Behavior Change and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Epidemic Among Chinese Adults: China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS).International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionThe COVID-19 pandemic and attendant lockdowns have had a substantial negative effect on alcohol consumption and physical activity globally. Pre-pandemic evidence in the adult population suggests that higher levels of physical activity were associated with higher levels of drinking, but it is unclear how the pandemic may have affected this. Therefore, this study aims to assess the association between alcohol consumption and physical activity in a UK cohort established during the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsAnalyses utilized data from the Health Behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic (HEBECO) study involving 2,057 UK adults (≥18 years). Participants completed self-report measures of alcohol consumption [frequency, quantity, frequency of heavy episodic drinking (HED) and AUDIT-C score] and physical activity [moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), frequency of muscle strengthening activity (MSA) and sedentary behaviour] between November 2020 and January 2021. Ordinal logistic regression models were conducted, adjusting for sociodemographic factors.
resultsFifteen percent of the sample reported abstinence from drinking. Overall, 23.4% of participants drank ≥4 times/week, 13.9% drank more than 6 units/single drinking occasion (HED), 7.5% reported HED daily/almost daily and 4.2% scored ≥11 on AUDIT-C. MSA 3 days/week compared with no MSA was significantly associated with higher odds of alcohol frequency [OR (95 CI%) = 1.41 (1.04-1.91)], quantity [OR (95 CI%) = 1.38 (1.02-1.87)], HED [OR (95 CI%) = 1.42 (1.05-1.94)] and possible dependence [OR (95 CI%) = 1.47 (1.05-2.06)]. The association of MVPA and sedentary behaviour with drinking measures was not significant (p>0.05).
conclusionIn contrast with previous research, MSA rather than aerobic physical activity was associated with increased alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is conceivable that during lockdown while drinking was used as a coping strategy, limited opportunities for aerobic exercise made MSA a more convenient form of physical activity. To guide public health interventions, more research is required to examine the temporal relationship between different forms of physical activity and alcohol consumption.
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