The Gender Pint Gap Revisited FINAL - Flipbook - Page 46
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THE GENDER PINT GAP: REVISITED/BARRIERS
Commentary and Opportunities
The perception that beer is loaded with calories persists. The fear of
the dreaded ‘beer belly’ is visceral. This is coupled with ingrained
attitudes about the negative health implications associated with
drinking beer. But this could be levied about all alcohol
consumption.
Previous research by the
Bittersweet Partnership Research:
45% of women stated they would
put on weight if they started
drinking beer, and 15% of women
said they don’t drink beer because
it has more calories than other
drinks.
A report in 2013 by nutritionist
Dr Kathryn O’Sullivan concluded
that swapping two large glasses of
wine a day with two bottles of
lager could save 58,240 calories a
year.
All alcohol and calories
All alcohol is high in calories. It contains around seven calories a
gram - almost as many as pure fat.
Calories from alcohol are often described as 'empty calories',
meaning they have no nutritional value because they are
consumed in addition to the calories your body needs. And
drinking alcohol affects the way your body processes fat for
energy.
You are more likely to store fat around your middle 3 which is an
area where men in particular tend to show weight gain, sometimes
referred to as a ‘beer belly’.
DrinkAware
(Independent UK-wide alcohol education charity)
Calorific Content:
An Education Piece?
Alcohol does have some effects that
are different for women. These
happen because of differences in
anatomy and physiology between
female and male bodies.
Wine belly and beer belly are
basically the same things 4 no
matter what alcohol you drink it still
contains calories that can cause
weight gain.
The Opportunity
If it becomes compulsory to
add calories to menus, this
might actually benefit beer as
a category.
Could the same apply to
adding calories to packs/labels
(like units)? Historically the
industry has avoided it but it
might become more
widespread given recent EU
moves to include nutritional
values on labels.
