# Alcohol health effects and weight

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcohol-health-effects-and-weight/225428>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 21, 2004, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcohol-health-effects-and-weight/225428 "2004-01-21T05:42:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![incompetent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@incompetent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/incompetent)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcohol-health-effects-and-weight/225428/1 "2004-01-21T05:42:58Z")

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Does a person’s body weight make a difference in how much damage alcohol does to the body?

I know if someone weighs 100 lbs and someone else weighs 200 lbs and they both drink 12 beers in 30 minutes, the 100 lb guy will get drunk much faster and feel the effects much more. But which person will be damaging their body more? They are both ingesting the amount of poison into the body, right? Will long term alcohol abuse affect the 100 lb guy more or the 200 lb guy more, or the same for both?

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**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcohol-health-effects-and-weight/225428/2 "2004-01-21T05:57:44Z")

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Damage depends on concentration of alcohol, so the smaller person is likely to take more damage from a given amount. Of course, there are _lots_ of other factors.

Those include your genetic resistance, whether or not you drink regularly (the damage accumulates!), and whether you try the experiment on a full stomach.

In any case, a dozen in a half-hour is a bad idea.

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**Author:** ![incompetent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@incompetent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/incompetent)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcohol-health-effects-and-weight/225428/3 "2004-01-29T06:26:02Z")

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ok, then assume that both persons are identical twins or perfect clones, with no genetic differences or environmental differences between them - the only difference is that one is 100 lbs and the other is 200 lbs. they both drink the same amount of alcohol for 5 years every single day, say 10 drinks a day. who is damaging their body more?

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**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcohol-health-effects-and-weight/225428/4 "2004-01-29T09:20:42Z")

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> [@incompetent](#):
>
> then assume that both persons are identical twins or perfect clones, with no genetic differences or environmental differences between them - the only difference is that one is 100 lbs and the other is 200 lbs.

That’s impossible, since differences in weight are caused by both environmental (e.g. how much food they have access to) and genetic (e.g. height) factors. In short, they’d never _get that way_.