TABLE 1.
Baseline characteristics of the study populations
| Quintiles of Total Red Meat Intake (servings/d) |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NHS (1980, n = 84,315) |
NHS II (1991, n = 90,217) |
HPFS (1986, n = 42,163) |
|||||||
| Q1 | Q3 | Q5 | Q1 | Q3 | Q5 | Q1 | Q3 | Q5 | |
| n | 16,621 | 16,473 | 17,120 | 17,778 | 18,187 | 18,418 | 8,530 | 8,103 | 8,598 |
| Age (y) | 47.4 (7.2) | 45.7 (7.2) | 45.7 (7.1) | 36.2 (4.7) | 36.1 (4.7) | 35.9 (4.6) | 54.3 (9.6) | 52.9 (9.6) | 52.2 (9.2) |
| Total Calories (kcal/d) | 1202 (397) | 1521 (388) | 2032 (474) | 1504 (492) | 1736 (472) | 2206 (525) | 1684 (543) | 1902 (520) | 2497 (609) |
| Total Red Meat (servings/d) | 0.46 (0.18) | 1.27 (0.11) | 2.62 (0.71) | 0.21 (0.14) | 0.82 (0.08) | 1.95 (0.54) | 0.24 (0.15) | 1.01 (0.12) | 2.42 (0.76) |
| Processed Red Meat (servings /d) | 0.11 (0.09) | 0.31 (0.23) | 0.75 (0.56) | 0.04 (0.06) | 0.19 (0.12) | 0.50 (0.40) | 0.05 (0.07) | 0.30 (0.21) | 0.85 (0.63) |
| Unprocessed Red Meat (servings /d) | 0.35 (0.15) | 0.95 (0.25) | 1.87 (0.67) | 0.17 (0.12) | 0.63 (0.13) | 1.45 (0.51) | 0.18 (0.13) | 0.71 (0.22) | 1.57 (0.63) |
| Poultry (servings /d) | 0.46 (0.44) | 0.42 (0.35) | 0.42 (0.41) | 0.68 (0.55) | 0.68 (0.42) | 0.69 (0.45) | 0.64 (0.54) | 0.55 (0.42) | 0.54 (0.42) |
| Fish (servings /d) | 0.22 (0.27) | 0.16 (0.18) | 0.14 (0.16) | 0.25 (0.29) | 0.23 (0.20) | 0.22 (0.21) | 0.44 (0.39) | 0.31 (0.27) | 0.27 (0.25) |
| Egg (servings /d) | 0.37 (0.38) | 0.41 (0.37) | 0.50 (0.44) | 0.13 (0.19) | 0.17 (0.18) | 0.25 (0.25) | 0.20 (0.34) | 0.31 (0.35) | 0.52 (0.55) |
| Total dairy (servings /d) | 1.84 (1.37) | 1.84 (1.29) | 1.87 (1.33) | 2.13 (1.45) | 2.27 (1.44) | 2.45 (1.52) | 1.70 (1.38) | 1.91 (1.37) | 2.26 (1.60) |
| Nuts and legumes (servings /d) | 0.46 (0.60) | 0.45 (0.46) | 0.51 (0.49) | 0.37 (0.40) | 0.34 (0.29) | 0.41 (0.33) | 0.62 (0.69) | 0.57 (0.55) | 0.70 (0.62) |
| Fruits (servings /d) | 1.65 (1.43) | 1.40 (1.17) | 1.39 (1.18) | 1.37 (1.13) | 1.16 (0.90) | 1.14 (0.89) | 2.03 (1.66) | 1.46 (1.17) | 1.37 (1.12) |
| Vegetables (servings /d) | 1.80 (1.28) | 1.77 (1.07) | 1.93 (1.17) | 2.72 (1.86) | 2.49 (1.49) | 2.70 (1.53) | 4.26 (2.49) | 3.94 (2.11) | 4.25 (2.13) |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 23.9 (4.1) | 24.2 (4.3) | 24.6 (4.7) | 23.5 (4.5) | 24.5 (5.1) | 25.6 (6.0) | 24.8 (3.0) | 25.5 (3.1) | 26.0 (3.4) |
| Physical Activity (METs-hour/week) | 13.9 (22.6) | 11.6 (18.3) | 10.3 (15.8) | 27.9 (34.9) | 19.3 (24.6) | 17.1 (22.9) | 26.6 (30.0) | 19.6 (22.9) | 17.6 (22.3) |
| Alcohol (g/d) | 6.0 (10.0) | 6.6 (10.7) | 6.7 (11.3) | 3.1 (5.7) | 3.1 (5.9) | 3.1 (6.4) | 8.6 (12.7) | 11.3 (14.8) | 13.8 (17.9) |
| Race | |||||||||
| White adults | 92 (15375) | 94 (15542) | 94 (15983) | 91 (16254) | 95 (17057) | 91 (17020) | 89 (7568) | 90 (7348) | 93 (7943) |
| Black adults | 2 (291) | 1 (150) | 1 (239) | 2 (306) | 1 (216) | 2 (286) | 1 (106) | 1 (59) | 1 (77) |
| Hispanic adults | 1 (172) | 1 (122) | 1 (167) | 2 (387) | 1 (271) | 2 (291) | 0 (41) | 1 (45) | 0 (31) |
| Asian adults | 1 (106) | 1 (96) | 1 (149) | 2 (289) | 1 (192) | 2 (279) | 2 (164) | 2 (132) | 1 (117) |
| Current smoking (cigs/d) | |||||||||
| 1-14 | 8 (1312) | 8 (1297) | 8 (1354) | 5 (864) | 6 (1059) | 5 (1001) | 2 (156) | 3 (209) | 3 (284) |
| 15-24 | 11 (1772) | 12 (1957) | 14 (2319) | 3 (550) | 5 (897) | 6 (1192) | 1 (127) | 4 (284) | 4 (371) |
| >24 | 7 (1110) | 8 (1395) | 10 (1721) | 1 (203) | 2 (348) | 3 (591) | 1 (96) | 2 (185) | 5 (450) |
| Family history of type 2 diabetes | 18 (3032) | 18 (2991) | 19 (3328) | 39 (6898) | 41 (7516) | 44 (8139) | 23 (1972) | 23 (1830) | 23 (2006) |
| History of hypertension | 16 (2667) | 15 (2416) | 15 (2615) | 5 (935) | 6 (1080) | 7 (1352) | 19 (1649) | 19 (1547) | 19 (1670) |
| Multivitamin use | 38 (6328) | 34 (5534) | 32 (5545) | 49 (8709) | 43 (7784) | 41 (7498) | 49 (4166) | 40 (3279) | 37 (3141) |
| Postmenopausal hormone use | 9 (1476) | 8 (1275) | 8 (1321) | 3 (450) | 2 (452) | 3 (487) | / | / | / |
Abbreviations: MET, metabolic equivalent; NHS, Nurses’ Health Study; NHS II, Nurses’ Health Study II; HPFS, Health Professionals Follow-up Study
For continuous variables, the values are mean (SD); for categorical variables, the values are in % (n). One serving of unprocessed red meat equals 85 g of pork, beef, or lamb; one serving of processed red meat equals 28 g of bacon or 45 g of hot dog, sausage, salami, bologna, or other processed red meats.