Drinking beer is not the main cause of a "beer belly" although it can contribute to overall fatness, scientists have revealed. A team from Germany analysed the weight as well as the hip and waist measurements of nearly 20,000 people over four years. Participants were asked to detail how much beer they drank and what else they consumed each day. Their beer consumption was placed into a number of categories, from "very light" to "heavy". The researchers concluded that their study "does not support the common belief of a site-specific effect of beer on the abdomen, the beer belly", Daily Mail reported Thursday. "Beer consumption seems to be rather associated with an increase in overall body fatness," they wrote in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. A beer belly was defined as one that bulges distinctly as the waist and was proportionally large in comparison to hip measurement and body size