Table 2.
Baseline characteristics of the MCCS ^ study population by education and sex
| |
LOW EDUCATION |
HIGH EDUCATION |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
Mean (sd)/median (Q
1
,Q
3
)/% |
Mean (sd)/median (Q
1
,Q
3
)/% |
||
| Men | Women | Men | Women | |
| n (% of total) |
4,671 (15%) |
10,109 (33%) |
7,470 (24%) |
8,380 (27%) |
| Body mass index (BMI) |
27.3 (3.8) |
26.5 (4.8) |
26.3 (3.4) |
25.3 (4.4) |
| Obese (%) |
20.4% |
19.6% |
12.2% |
13.1% |
| Age |
57.4 (8.7) |
56.8 (8.5) |
54.1 (9.1) |
52.9 (8.7) |
| Heart attack, stroke and/or angina (%) |
11.8% |
5.3% |
7.6% |
2.7% |
| Cancer (%) |
10.5% |
9.4% |
7.9% |
9.7% |
| Diabetes (%) |
3.7% |
2.4% |
2.3% |
1.4% |
| Current smokers (%) |
14.9% |
10.9% |
9.2% |
7.9% |
| Fruit and vegetables (%)# |
16.2% |
33.3% |
23.9% |
42.2% |
| Healthy snacks (%)§ |
56.2% |
73.5% |
73.% |
86.2% |
| LTPA* |
4 (1.5, 5.5) |
4 (1.5, 5.5) |
4 (1.5, 8) |
4 (1.5, 7) |
| Alcohol (g/day) |
10.4 (0.8, 27.8) |
0.9 (0, 8.6) |
12.9 (2.3, 28.5) |
4.5 (0, 15.1) |
| Healthy savoury items* |
6 (1, 14) |
7.5 (3, 17.5) |
8 (3.5, 17.5) |
9.5 (5, 18.5) |
| Sweet snacks* |
6.5 (2, 13) |
6 (2, 12) |
6 (2.5, 12) |
5.5 (2, 10.5) |
| Unhealthy savoury* | 10.5 (6, 20) | 7 (3.5, 12.5) | 9 (5, 14) | 5.5 (3, 10) |
# (proportion meeting guidelines, consuming ≥ 2 fruits and ≥5 vegetables per day).
§ (proportion consuming nuts or yoghurt ≥ 0.5 times/week).
* Leisure time physical activity (times/week); sd standard deviation; Q1,Q3 (first quartile, third quartile).
^ This study utilises a sample of 30,630 participants from the baseline sample of the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (MCCS) which was conducted in Melbourne between 1990 and 1994.