Table 2. Multivariate associations of lifestyle factors with levels of plasma inflammatory markers among control participantsa.

	CRP (mg l−1)		IL-6 (pg ml−1)		sTNFR-2 (pg ml−1)
Variable	Relative change (%)b	P-value	Relative change (%)b	P-value	Relative change (%)b	P-value
Age, year	16.8	<0.001	18.3	<0.001	9.8	<0.001
BMI, kg m−2	16.1	<0.001	4.8	0.11	1.7	0.13
Waist circumference, inchc	21.2	<0.001	7.2	0.04	2.2	0.08
Waist-to-hip ratioc	10.6	0.03	2.0	0.52	2.2	0.05
Physical activity, MET-hours per wk	−2.4	0.58	−4.4	0.12	−2.4	0.03
Pack-years of smoking	11.0	0.03	8.1	0.02	0.6	0.59
Alcohol consumption, g per day	3.0	0.54	2.6	0.42	−1.7	0.15
Regular aspirin/NSAID use	10.3	0.27	5.4	0.37	0.4	0.84

Abbreviations: BMI=body mass index; CRP=C-reactive protein; IL-6=interleukin-6; MET=metabolic equivalent=(caloric need per kilogram body weight per hour activity)/(caloric need per kilogram body weight per hour at rest); NSAID=non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug; sTNFR-2=soluble tumour necrosis factor receptor 2.

^aMultivariate linear models based on natural log-transformed biomarker levels included age (continuous, year), BMI (continuous, kg m⁻²), physical activity(continuous, MET-hours per week), pack-years of smoking (continuous), alcohol consumption (continuous, g per day), regular aspirin/NSAID use (⩾2 tablets per week, yes or no), regular use of multivitamins (yes or no), and energy-adjusted intake of total fiber, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat and trans-fat (tertiles, g per day).

^bPercentages of changes for one-s.d. increment of continuous variables (the s.d. of variables can be found in Table 1). For aspirin/NSAID use, percent of change of biomarker levels was calculated for regular users relative to non-users.

^cNinety one control participants with missing information on waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio were excluded from the analysis, and BMI was excluded from the multivariate models.