Table 1.

Means (± SE) and proportions of covariates by ethnicity and sex: NHANES III

	Men			Women
	Non-Hispanic white*	Non-Hispanic black	Mexican- American	Non-Hispanic white*	Non-Hispanic black	Mexican- american
n	2,583	1,881	2,017	2,756	1,874	1,588
Age (years)	43.7 (0.5)	40.1 (0.5)†	35.6 (0.4)†‡	46.9 (0.6)	42.9 (0.4)†	39.9 (0.4)†‡
Education (years)	13.0 (0.1)	11.7 (0.1)†	9.2 (0.2)†‡	12.7(0.1)	11.9 (0.1)†	9.2 (0.2)†‡
Household income <$20,000	23.3	50.7†	53.6†	28.7	53.0†	53.4†
Weight (kg)	83.4 (0.4)	82.4 (0.4)	77.5 (0.6)†‡	68.7 (0.5)	77.0 (0.6)†	69.3 (0.5)‡
BMI (kg/m2)	26.7 (0.1)	26.5 (0.1)	26.8 (0.2)	26.0 (0.2)	29.0 (0.2)†	28.1 (0.2)†‡
Obese (BMI >30 kg/m2)	19.1	19.6	19.5	21.8	37.0†	34.0†
Waist-to-hip ratio	0.96 (0.00)	0.92 (0.00)†	0.96 (0.00)‡	0.86 (0.00)	0.87 (0.00)†	0.88 (0.00)†‡
% kcal from carbohydrate	48.4(0.5)	46.5 (0.3)†	49.0 (0.4)‡	50.7 (0.4)	50.2 (0.3)	51.6 (0.3)‡
Proportion not active	8.6	13.1†	21.6†‡	14.2	25.9†	28.5†
Insulin (pmol/l)	51.0 (1.1)	55.0 (1.0)†	57.3 (1.7)†	47.3 (1.0)	65.2 (1.8)†	63.2 (1.6)†
Glucose (mmol/l)	5.3 (0.0)	5.2 (0.0)†	5.4 (0.0)†‡	5.1 (0.0)	5.2 (0.0)	5.3 (0.0)†
Total cholesterol (mmol/l)	5.3 (0.0)	5.1 (0.0)†	5.1 (0.0)	5.4 (0.0)	5.2 (0.0)†	5.1 (0.0)†
Total cholesterol/HDL ratio	4.6 (0.0)	3.9 (0.0)†	4.4 (0.0)†‡	3.8 (0.1)	3.6 (0.0)†	3.9 (0.0)‡
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	121.0 (0.5)	124.5 (0.5)†	118.6 (0.5)†‡	116.1 (0.5)	120.1 (0.5)†	114.3 (0.3)†‡
Diastolic blood pressure  (mmHg)	76.0 (0.4)	78.0 (0.5)†	74.9 (0.6)‡	70.9 (0.3)	73.6 (0.4)†	70.1 (0.35)‡
Diabetes (glucose >126 mg/dl)	2.8	2.7	3.2	2.1	3.9†	4.1†
Hypertension (140/90 mmHg or  on medication)	21.1	27.3†	13.8†‡	21.4	30.6†	13.8†‡
Family history of diabetes in  first-degree relatives	21.0	23.0	25.9†	22.2	31.7†	34.2†

^*Referent;

^†P < 0.01 vs. non-Hispanic white;

^‡P < 0.01, non-Hispanic black vs. Mexican-American.