Table 2. Selected demographic, lifestyle, and medical characteristics of participants by sex and age.
| Men | Women | |||||||||
| Age (years) | Total | Age (years) | Total | |||||||
| 35–39 | 40–49 | 50–59 | 60–69 | 35–39 | 40–49 | 50–59 | 60–69 | |||
| n | 103 | 359 | 753 | 909 | 2124 | 129 | 534 | 854 | 878 | 2395 |
| Educational attainment (%)a | ||||||||||
| Elementary/junior high school |
1.0 | 3.1 | 10.0 | 20.9 | 12.6 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 9.8 | 31.6 | 14.7 |
| High school | 42.7 | 37.8 | 41.9 | 43.7 | 41.9 | 41.9 | 38.4 | 50.7 | 46.4 | 45.6 |
| Vocational school | 14.6 | 9.5 | 6.8 | 3.2 | 6.3 | 15.5 | 13.9 | 12.7 | 10.6 | 12.5 |
| Junior college | 3.9 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 24.8 | 26.5 | 16.1 | 7.4 | 16.3 |
| University | 33.0 | 39.5 | 34.8 | 27.6 | 32.7 | 15.5 | 17.7 | 10.2 | 3.8 | 10.2 |
| Postgraduate school | 4.9 | 5.0 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| Others | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Current smokers (%) | 39.8 | 32.3 | 34.8 | 21.9 | 29.1 | 11.6 | 10.3 | 7.4 | 4.1 | 7.1 |
| Ex-smokers (%) | 25.2 | 35.7 | 41.8 | 48.6 | 42.9 | 5.4 | 7.9 | 4.8 | 2.8 | 4.8 |
| Current drinkers (%)b | 60.2 | 70.8 | 75.1 | 69.9 | 71.4 | 32.6 | 34.6 | 27.5 | 22.8 | 27.7 |
| Exercise ≥1/month (%) | 75.7 | 81.6 | 79.7 | 86.8 | 82.9 | 62.0 | 70.4 | 74.9 | 82.5 | 76.0 |
| Body mass index ≥25.0 (%) |
37.9 | 32.2 | 32.6 | 24.9 | 29.5 | 9.5 | 16.5 | 20.0 | 21.8 | 19.3 |
| History of disease (%) | ||||||||||
| Diabetes | 1.9 | 4.5 | 8.4 | 13.9 | 9.7 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 7.1 | 3.8 |
| Hypertension | 3.9 | 8.9 | 23.2 | 36.2 | 25.2 | 0.0 | 4.3 | 17.1 | 30.5 | 17.9 |
| Coronary heart disease |
0.0 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 7.3 | 4.0 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 5.3 | 3.0 |
| Stroke | 0.0 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 2.0 |
| Cancer | 6.1 | 2.0 | 7.7 | 12.6 | 8.6 | 2.8 | 5.0 | 9.3 | 6.4 | 6.9 |
| Blood pressure and blood chemistryc | ||||||||||
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) |
120.4 ± 14.3 | 121.1 ± 15.4 | 129.7 ± 17.9 | 135.4 ± 19.3 | 130.1 ± 18.8 | 109.6 ± 11.4 | 116.8 ± 18.3 | 125.0 ± 18.9 | 133.4 ± 19.0 | 126.5 ± 19.9 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) |
73.6 ± 10.3 | 77.6 ± 11.7 | 81.9 ± 12.6 | 82.1 ± 11.1 | 80.8 ± 11.9 | 65.4 ± 7.4 | 72.0 ± 11.9 | 76.7 ± 11.6 | 79.0 ± 10.8 | 76.4 ± 11.7 |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dl) |
191.3 ± 28.9 | 205.3 ± 30.2 | 206.6 ± 32.5 | 205.2 ± 33.1 | 205.2 ± 32.3 | 185.6 ± 25.2 | 202.4 ± 31.0 | 223.3 ± 34.2 | 223.1 ± 33.5 | 217.9 ± 34.6 |
| HDL-cholesterol (mg/dl) |
56.2 ± 16.0 | 57.6 ± 15.4 | 59.1 ± 15.8 | 59.7 ± 16.2 | 58.9 ± 15.9 | 73.1 ± 15.7 | 68.7 ± 15.3 | 68.9 ± 15.0 | 66.2 ± 16.0 | 68.0 ± 15.5 |
| Triglyceride (mg/dl) | 128.6 ± 74.9 | 146.5 ± 96.5 | 135.1 ± 93.0 | 132.0 ± 92.9 | 135.9 ± 93.0 | 64.8 ± 28.4 | 88.0 ± 61.2 | 104.9 ± 64.2 | 113.7 ± 69.2 | 103.4 ± 65.7 |
| Blood glucose (mg/dl) | 98.0 ± 27.2 | 98.3 ± 15.7 | 103.2 ± 17.6 | 103.9 ± 23.3 | 102.1 ± 20.3 | 86.8 ± 7.1 | 92.4 ± 19.7 | 95.9 ± 16.8 | 97.1 ± 15.8 | 95.1 ± 16.9 |
| HbA1c (%) | 4.96 ± 0.32 | 5.12 ± 0.48 | 5.32 ± 0.86 | 5.30 ± 0.75 | 5.27 ± 0.74 | 4.86 ± 0.27 | 4.96 ± 0.36 | 5.17 ± 0.64 | 5.26 ± 0.57 | 5.17 ± 0.57 |
Plus-minus values are means ± SDs.
aParticipants in Fukuoka area were excluded from the analysis because they were not asked about educational attainment in the questionnaire.
bIndividuals who drank alcoholic beverages ≥1 day/week.
cNot available in some study areas, as shown in Table 3.