Table 1.

Demographic and health characteristics of participants: older adults (n 69 582) enrolled in the Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) study in 2000–2002

			Fast-food items (servings/week)			Sugar-sweetened drinks (servings/week)
	n	%	Adjusted mean*	95 % CI	P value	Adjusted mean*	95 % CI	P value
Age at baseline (years)					<0·0001			<0·0001
50–59	32 652	46·9	1·90	1·88, 1·91		2·24	2·19, 2·29
60–69	24 051	34·6	1·80	1·77, 1·81		1·86	1·80, 1·91
70–76	12 879	18·5	1·67	1·64, 1·70		1·68	1·61, 1·76
Sex					<0·0001			<0·0001
Men	33 985	48·8	1·66	1·64, 1·67		1·91	1·87, 1·96
Women	35 597	51·2	1·97	1·95, 1·99		2·09	2·03, 2·15
Race/ethnicity					<0·0001			<0·0001
White	64 744	93·1	1·80	1·79, 1·81		1·95	1·92, 1·98
Hispanic	568	0·8	1·85	1·70, 2·00		2·60	2·17, 3·03
African-American	762	1·1	2·59	2·45, 2·73		4·11	3·61, 4·61
American Indian/Alaska Native	1026	1·5	2·00	1·89, 2·11		2·58	2·24, 2·92
Asian-American or Pacific Islander	1555	2·2	2·10	2·02, 2·18		2·24	2·02, 2·46
Other	927	1·3	1·93	1·79, 2·07		2·47	2·04, 2·90
Marital status					0·25			<0·0001
Married	52 379	75·3	1·81	1·80, 1·83		1·94	1·91, 1·98
Living with partner	1822	2·6	1·83	1·75, 1·90		2·38	2·14, 2·63
Never married	2231	3·2	1·75	1·68, 1·82		2·11	1·90, 2·32
Separated/divorced	7850	11·3	1·83	1·79, 1·87		2·16	2·05, 2·27
Widowed	4719	6·8	1·85	1·81, 1·90		2·21	2·07, 2·34
Missing	581	0·8	1·79	1·62, 1·95		1·93	1·37, 2·49
Education					<0·0001			<0·0001
≤High school or GED	13 199	19·0	2·03	2·00, 2·06		2·37	2·28, 2·46
Some college/technical school	26 352	37·8	1·89	1·88, 1·91		2·16	2·10, 2·21
College graduate	17 358	25·0	1·72	1·69, 1·74		1·75	1·70, 1·81
Advanced degree	12 184	17·5	1·56	1·54, 1·59		1·62	1·56, 1·69
Missing	489	0·7	1·85	1·64, 2·06		2·08	1·36, 2·80
Annual income					<0·0001			0·0001
<$US 40 000	15 926	22·9	1·86	1·83, 1·88		2·11	2·03, 2·19
$US 40 000–59 000	13 598	19·5	1·86	1·83, 1·89		2·02	1·95, 2·09
$US 60 000–79 000	10 207	14·7	1·82	1·79, 1·86		1·95	1·87, 2·03
≥$US 80 000	16 713	24·0	1·82	1·79, 1·84		1·87	1·80, 1·93
Missing	13 138	18·9	1·73	1·70, 1·75		2·07	1·99, 2·14
Morbidity score†					<0·0001			0·84
Low (score <0·14)	33 492	48·1	1·77	1·75, 1·79		2·01	1·96, 2·05
High (score ≥0·14)	36 090	51·9	1·86	1·84, 1·88		2·00	1·95, 2·05

GED, General Educational Development.

^*Means for each variable adjusted for all variables in the table in addition to BMI at age 45 years (<18·5 kg/m², 18·5–24·9 kg/m², 25·0–29·9 kg/m², ≥30·0 kg/m², missing), average yearly change in BMI from age 45 years, physical activity in 10 years before baseline (tertiles of MET×h/week, where MET is metabolic equivalents of task), smoking (never, former, current), average alcohol intake (tertiles of g/d), number of servings/d of fruits (quartiles), number of servings/d of vegetables (quartiles) and total daily energy intake (continuous).

^†Using Cox regression, the following conditions (yes/no) were modelled simultaneously in sex-specific and age-adjusted models to obtain a continuous morbidity score: current use of medication for depression or anxiety; current use of blood pressure medication; history of cancer of the lung, colon, bladder, pancreas, breast, cervix, uterus, ovaries, and all other sites combined except non-melanoma skin cancer (all as separate variables); IHD (defined as history of heart attack, coronary bypass surgery, angioplasty, or diagnosis of angina); stroke; congestive heart failure; rheumatoid arthritis; diabetes; viral hepatitis; cirrhosis of the liver; other chronic liver disease; emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; kidney disease; ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease; Parkinson’s disease; and osteoporosis in women.