Everyone from Jamie Oliver to the World Health Organisation has been getting their knickers in a twist over the Government's introduction of a sugary drinks tax as a way to tackle the world's ever-expanding waistline. But when you're at the pub, ploughing through your third glass of Chardonnay while your sensible mate sips on a Coca-Cola, new research suggests it could be you who's more at risk from extra calories in the short and long term.The study, which was published last week by market research company Euromonitor, show that adults worldwide take in more calories from alcohol than soft drinks.As if a raging hangover after a heavy night out wasn't bad enough, now you can add weight gain to the list of things to feel guilty about.The study of 24 countries, including the UK, China, and Russia, found that in 2015, all bar one country (Taiwan) had a higher daily calorie consumption of calories from booze that sugary drinks. On average, people in the UK consumed 123 calories a day from wine, beer, and spirits compared to 98 from soft drinks. South Korea topped the table with 118 boozy calories imbibed and 44 calories from soft drinks.This brings us to the sobering conclusion that alcoholic drinks may need to be the focus of calorie-reduction initiatives just as much—if not more—than soft drinks. Sara Petersson, nutritional analyst at Euromonitor, said in a press statement: "While the focus on calorie-reduction has been primarily put on soft drinks, [the research] has shown that alcoholic drinks are not far off in terms of the energy they provide, and even overtake soft drinks in some instances."It's not news that alcohol is linked with weight gain and obesity (after all, a large glass of vino with 13 percent ABV is around 228 calories) but the Euromonitor study serves to fuel the fire that the UK Government has recently come under for supposedly watering down drinking guidelines, as well as its long-awaited obesity strategy.Moreover, alcoholic drinks are still exempt from nutritional information labelling, something that alcohol charity Alcohol Concern believes should change. A spokesperson told MUNCHIES that, while they didn't have an official line on Euromonitor's findings, "We believe there should be labels on all alcohol bottles and packaging to give people all the information on what they're consuming."Remember that "skinny" Prosecco everyone mocked? Maybe they were onto something after all.
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