Table 1. Clinical characteristics of 1375 Hong Kong subjects and 1996 Guangzhou subjects.

	Hong Kong		Guangzhou
	Men (n=659)	Women (n=716)	Men (n=992)	Women (n=1004)
Age, years	52.2±12.1	51.0±11.4	62.1±6.9	56.6±5.7‡
Body mass index, kg/m2	24.3±3.3	23.6±3.5‡	23.7±3.0	23.8±3.0
Waist circumference, cm	84.1±9.2	76.0±9.1‡	81.2±8.9	75.9±8.2‡
Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg	125.3±16.8	120.1±20.6‡	130.4±20.4	124.1±20.7‡
Diastolic blood pressure, mm Hg	78.6±10.2	73.5±10.7‡	75.7±10.6	72.4±10.7‡
Triglycerides, mmol/l	1.3 (0.9–1.8)	1.0 (0.7–1.4)‡	1.5 (1.1–2.1)	1.4 (1.0–2.0)†
Total cholesterol, mmol/l	5.29±0.92	5.28±0.96	5.61±1.03	6.09±1.09‡
HDL-cholesterol, mmol/l	1.23±0.34	1.48±0.37‡	1.45±0.36	1.72±0.40‡
LDL-cholesterol, mmol/l	3.33±0.81	3.19±0.85†	3.23±0.63	3.51±0.70‡
Fasting glucose, mmol/l	5.2 (4.8–5.7)	5.0 (4.7–5.5)‡	5.4 (5.0–5.8)	5.3 (5.0–5.7)†
Fasting insulin, mIU/l	7.4 (5.1–11.0)	7.2 (5.3–10.0)	5.4 (3.0–8.6)	6.5 (3.9–9.6)‡
Current smoking, %	32.6	4.2‡	40.2	2.4‡
Alcohol drinking, %a	19.3	3.1‡	66.5	49.7‡
Hypertension, %	30.0	24.3*	41.6	34.2‡
Diabetes, %b	17.2	15.4	11.6	10.7
Metabolic syndrome, %c	28.2	20.2‡	22.2	21.0
Education, %
≤Primary	25.7	36.8‡	24.9	30.7‡
Secondary	56.2	51.5‡	58.2	61.2‡
≥Tertiary	18.1	11.6‡	16.9	8.1‡
Lipid-lower medication, n (%)	22 (3.3)	39 (5.4)	55 (5.5)	40 (4.0)

Data are expressed as mean±SD or median (inter-quartile range) unless otherwise stated.

^*P<0.05, †P<0.01 and ‡P<0.001 for men versus women.

^aDefined as ‘at least once a week' in Hong Kong subjects and ‘consume any alcohol in last year' in Guangzhou subjects.

^bDefined as fasting glucose ≥7.0 mmol/l or 2 h-glucose ≥11.1 mmol/l or taking anti-diabetic medication. The prevalence of diabetes among the Guangzhou subjects was based on the 683 men and 611 women who had undergone an OGTT.

^cThe US National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel III definition of the metabolic syndrome with Asian cut points for waist circumference.^{8, 9}