Table 1.
Age-Standardized Characteristics of Participants (n = 39,909) by Categories of BMI at 21 Years of Age, Health Professionals Follow-up Study, United States, 1986a
| Characteristic and Age at Baseline, yearsb | BMI at 21 Years of Agec |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <18.5 (n = 1,296) |
18.5–22.9 (n = 19,065) |
23.0–24.9 (n = 10,669) |
25.0–27.4 (n = 6,674) |
27.5–29.9 (n = 1,491) |
≥30.0 (n = 714) |
|||||||
| % | Mean (SD) | % | Mean (SD) | % | Mean (SD) | % | Mean (SD) | % | Mean (SD) | % | Mean (SD) | |
| Age at baseline (1986), years | 57.1 (10.1) | 54.8 (9.9) | 52.7 (9.2) | 52.3 (9.1) | 52.1 (9.0) | 52.1 (9.1) | ||||||
| BMI at baseline (1986) | 22.8 (2.7) | 24.2 (2.4) | 25.8 (2.3) | 27.5 (3.0) | 29.3 (3.5) | 33.6 (8.9) | ||||||
| <50.0 | 22.0 (2.6) | 23.7 (2.1) | 25.6 (2.2) | 27.3 (2.9) | 29.4 (3.6) | 32.8 (7.6) | ||||||
| 50.0–64.9 | 23.3 (2.7) | 24.5 (2.4) | 26.0 (2.4) | 27.8 (3.0) | 29.3 (3.5) | 33.5 (8.4) | ||||||
| ≥65.0 | 23.4 (2.8) | 24.6 (2.5) | 26.0 (2.5) | 27.1 (2.9) | 28.9 (3.3) | 36.2 (12.9) | ||||||
| BMI at 21 years of age | 17.6 (0.7) | 21.1 (1.2) | 23.8 (0.5) | 25.9 (0.7) | 28.5 (0.7) | 33.6 (6.2) | ||||||
| <50.0 | 17.6 (0.7) | 21.2 (1.1) | 23.8 (0.5) | 25.9 (0.7) | 28.5 (0.7) | 32.9 (5.0) | ||||||
| 50.0–64.9 | 17.6 (0.7) | 21.1 (1.2) | 23.8 (0.5) | 25.9 (0.7) | 28.5 (0.7) | 33.3 (5.9) | ||||||
| ≥65.0 | 17.5 (0.7) | 20.9 (1.2) | 23.8 (0.5) | 25.9 (0.7) | 28.6 (0.6) | 36.4 (8.8) | ||||||
| Weight change since 21 years of age, kg | 16.9 (8.9) | 9.6 (7.7) | 6.5 (7.4) | 5.2 (9.2) | 2.5 (11.1) | −0.9 (16.2) | ||||||
| <50.0 | 14.4 (8.1) | 7.8 (6.8) | 5.8 (7.0) | 4.7 (9.0) | 2.8 (11.3) | −1.0 (15.1) | ||||||
| 50.0–64.9 | 18.4 (9.2) | 10.7 (7.9) | 7.0 (7.6) | 6.2 (9.3) | 2.6 (11.1) | −0.1 (17.5) | ||||||
| ≥65.0 | 18.6 (8.7) | 11.3 (8.2) | 6.9 (7.7) | 3.9 (9.0) | 1.1 (10.4) | −3.4 (15.1) | ||||||
| Family history of MI | 31 | 32 | 33 | 33 | 35 | 39 | ||||||
| <50.0 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 31 | 32 | 35 | ||||||
| 50.0–64.9 | 33 | 36 | 36 | 35 | 36 | 43 | ||||||
| ≥65.0 | 33 | 31 | 33 | 35 | 38 | 35 | ||||||
| Family history of colon cancer | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | ||||||
| <50.0 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | ||||||
| 50.0–64.9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 9 | ||||||
| ≥65.0 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | ||||||
| Family history of diabetes | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | ||||||
| <50.0 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 16 | ||||||
| 50.0–64.9 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 19 | ||||||
| ≥65.0 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 10 | ||||||
| Current smoking | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | ||||||
| <50.0 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 14 | ||||||
| 50.0–64.9 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 8 | ||||||
| ≥65.0 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 14 | ||||||
| Past smoking | 41 | 42 | 41 | 42 | 46 | 47 | ||||||
| <50.0 | 31 | 33 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 40 | ||||||
| 50.0–64.9 | 47 | 47 | 44 | 45 | 51 | 54 | ||||||
| ≥65.0 | 51 | 51 | 49 | 49 | 51 | 48 | ||||||
| Physical activity, MET hours/week | 15.2 (21.3) | 19.1 (24.1) | 21.1 (25.8) | 20.9 (27.5) | 19.3 (28.1) | 17.8 (22.7) | ||||||
| <50.0 | 16.1 (24.2) | 20.8 (25.9) | 22.8 (28.3) | 23.1 (30.1) | 20.5 (28.5) | 21.2 (26.0) | ||||||
| 50.0–64.9 | 14.7 (19.3) | 18.1 (22.8) | 19.9 (23.2) | 19.7 (24.0) | 18.3 (25.9) | 16.1 (21.1) | ||||||
| ≥65.0 | 14.4 (18.9) | 17.8 (22.7) | 19.9 (26.1) | 18.7 (29.3) | 18.8 (33.0) | 13.9 (15.2) | ||||||
| Alcohol consumption, g/day | 11.7 (17.0) | 11.7 (15.4) | 11.5 (15.4) | 11.2 (15.3) | 10.1 (14.2) | 9.9 (14.8) | ||||||
| <50.0 | 9.8 (15.0) | 10.4 (14.1) | 10.6 (14.0) | 10.4 (14.6) | 9.4 (13.1) | 8.4 (12.3) | ||||||
| 50.0–64.9 | 13.0 (17.7) | 12.7 (16.2) | 12.2 (16.3) | 11.8 (15.9) | 11.1 (15.0) | 11.3 (16.9) | ||||||
| ≥65.0 | 13.5 (19.7) | 11.9 (16.2) | 12.1 (16.6) | 11.3 (15.4) | 9.0 (14.7) | 10.1 (14.3) | ||||||
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; MET h/wk, metabolic equivalent hours per week; MI, myocardial infarction; SD, standard deviation.
a P < 0.001 for all continuous variables across categories of BMI (weight (kg)/height (m)2) at 21 years of age, except for age at baseline in participants younger than 50 years of age (P = 0.514) and for MET h/wk in participants 65 years of age or older (P = 0.002) using analysis of variance F test. P < 0.001 for all categorical variables across categories of BMI at age 21 years, except for a family history of colon cancer (overall P = 0.086; for participants 50.0–64.9 years of age, P = 0.023), family history of diabetes (overall P = 0.140; for participants <50.0 years of age, P = 0.042), current smoking (overall P = 0.168; for participants 50.0–64.9 years of age, P = 0.002), and past smoking (overall P = 0.002; for participants ≥65.0 years of age, P = 0.005), using χ2 test.
b Characteristics were reported as current characteristics on the enrollment questionnaire in 1986 when participants were 40–75 years of age except for BMI at age 21 years, which was calculated with the height reported in 1986 and the recalled weight at 21 years of age.
c Data (except for age) have been standardized to the age distribution of the study population. The age categories are <50.0, 50.0–64.9, and ≥65 years.