Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics of Multi‐Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Participants (N=2837)
| Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Mean age (SD), y | 61.5 (10.2) |
| Woman, % | 53 |
| Race/ethnicity, % | |
| Whites | 25.5 |
| Hispanic | 24.8 |
| Chinese American | 25.1 |
| Blacks | 24.6 |
| Education, % | |
| Less than high school | 21.6 |
| High school | 18.1 |
| Some college/college degree | 60.3 |
| Current smokers, % | 13.7 |
| Physical activity (MET: min/week) | |
| Sedentary leisure | 1632 (1110) |
| Active leisure | 2316 (2786) |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 27.9 (5.5) |
| Diabetes at baseline, % | 13.1 |
| Circulating fatty acids, % of total FA | |
| Myristic acid 14:0 | 0.26 (0.08) |
| Pentadecanoic acid 15:0 | 0.17 (0.05) |
| trans‐Palmitoleic acid (trans‐16:1n‐7) | 0.05 (0.03) |
| Mean (SD) food intakes, serving/day | |
| Total dairy | 1.5 (2.0) |
| Low‐fat dairy | 0.8 (1.4) |
| Whole‐fat dairy | 0.7 (1.2) |
| Processed meat | 0.2 (0.3) |
| Unprocessed meat | 0.4 (0.5) |
| Fried potato | 0.1 (0.2) |
| Salty snacks | 0.2 (0.4) |
| Desserts | 0.2 (0.5) |
| Margarine | 0.2 (0.4) |
| Butter | 0.1 (0.3) |
| Fruits and vegetables | 3.3 (2.6) |
| Fiber, g/day | 17.5 (6.1) |
Values are mean (SD) for continuous variables and percent for categorical variables. Whole‐fat dairy included whole milk, cheese, whole‐fat yogurt, and ice cream. Low‐fat dairy included 2% milk, 1%/skim milk, and cottage or ricotta cheese. Processed meats included ham, hot dogs, bologna, salami, lunchmeats, liver, sausage, chorizo, scrapple, and bacon. Unprocessed red meat included hamburger; cheeseburger; meatloaf; hash; beef, pork, or lamb steaks; roasts; barbeque or ribs; and red meat in stir‐fried and other mixed dishes. Salty snacks included potato, corn, or tortilla chips; crackers; pretzels; and popcorn. Desserts included white and chocolate doughnuts, cookies, cakes, brownies, candy, pastries, Pop‐Tarts, Chinese desserts, Mexican desserts, pies, pudding, custard, and flan. Fruits and vegetables included peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums, cantaloupe, mango, papaya, strawberries, blueberries, other berries, apples, applesauce, pears, bananas, plantains, oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, kiwi, dried fruits, tossed salad (with spinach, Romaine, or dark greens), cooked spinach, turnip greens, collards, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, sauerkraut, kimchi, carrots, winter squash, acorn squash, sweet potatoes, yams, green beans, peas, snow peas, squash, zucchini, asparagus, and tomatoes. MET indicates metabolic equivalent; BMI, body mass index; FA, fatty acid.