Table 2.

Comparison of MWS characteristics between matched participants and others of a similar age

Variable	Matched participants	MWS cohort born ± 1 yr of NSHD	P difference*
Number of women at baseline	541	217,828
Number of women at resurvey	368	135,417
Age at baseline, yr, mean	52.1	52.1
Deprivation, % most deprived tertile	27.3	33.1	0.01
Maternal vital status, % alive	35.6	38.1	0.33
Self-reported at recruitment in the MWS
Height, cm, mean (SD)	162.6 (6.4)	162.1 (6.7)	0.07
Weight, kg, mean (SD)	68.8 (13.2)	68.7 (12.9)	0.78
BMI, kg/m2, mean (SD)	26.0 (4.6)	26.1 (4.8)	0.35
Age at menarche, yr, mean (SD)	13.2 (1.5)	13.3 (1.6)	0.02
Age at menopause, yr, mean (SD)	48.0 (5.0)	47.3 (5.8)	0.03
Use of oral contraceptives, % ever	72.2	73.0	0.66
Self-reported at resurvey in the MWS
Birth weight, kg, mean (SD)	3.24 (0.68)	3.22 (0.69)	0.69
Mother's height, cm, mean (SD)	160.6 (7.1)	160.4 (6.8)	0.61
Father's height, cm, mean (SD)	174.1 (7.7)	174.3 (7.8)	0.63
Waist circumference, cm, mean (SD)	75.8 (9.1)	75.7 (9.3)	0.96
Hip circumference, cm, mean (SD)	99.9 (8.1)	99.6 (7.8)	0.52
Waist-to-hip ratio, mean (SD)	0.76 (0.06)	0.76 (0.06)	0.38
Waist-to-height ratio, mean (SD)	0.47 (0.06)	0.47 (0.06)	0.99
Whether breastfed, % ever breastfed	73.0	69.7	0.23
Body size, age 10
% thinner	25.8	29.9	0.23
% average	56.0	52.4
% plumper	18.2	17.7
Body size, age 20
% size < 12	29.8	31.7	0.27
% size 12-14	58.1	58.4
% size 16+	12.1	9.9
Clothes size
% size < 14	30.9	32.0	0.18
% size 14-16	44.8	49.1
% size 18+	24.3	18.9
Bra band size
% size 36	22.8	23.9	0.34
% size 36-38	56.0	59.4
% size 40+	21.3	16.7

MWS: Million Women Study. NSHD: National Survey of Health and Development.

* P from ANOVA for continuous variables and from chi-squared tests of association for categorical variables.