Table 2. Baseline characteristics of participants in the pooled dataset by BMI category.
| Characteristic | BMI (kg/m2) | ||||
| 18.5–24.9 (n = 304,011) | 40.0–44.9 (n = 6,803) | 45.0–49.9 (n = 1,978) | 50.0–54.9 (n = 627) | 55.0–59.9 (n = 156) | |
| Age | |||||
| 19–49 y | 35% | 23% | 23% | 21% | 17% |
| 50–59 y | 27% | 40% | 40% | 48% | 44% |
| 60–69 y | 29% | 33% | 33% | 27% | 33% |
| 70–83 y | 9% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 6% |
| Sex | |||||
| Male | 25% | 18% | 14% | 13% | 19% |
| Female | 75% | 82% | 86% | 87% | 81% |
| Race/ethnicity | |||||
| White, non-Hispanic or unknown if Hispanic | 93% | 90% | 88% | 87% | 85% |
| Black, non-Hispanic or unknown if Hispanic | 1% | 6% | 8% | 8% | 10% |
| Hispanic | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 3% | <1% | <1% | <1% | 1% |
| Other/unknown | 1% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 1% |
| Education | |||||
| High school graduate or less | 22% | 31% | 32% | 26% | 31% |
| Post–high school training/some college | 21% | 31% | 31% | 32% | 38% |
| College graduate | 54% | 36% | 33% | 39% | 28% |
| Unknown | 3% | 3% | 4% | 3% | 3% |
| Alcohol intake | |||||
| None | 32% | 45% | 47% | 48% | 46% |
| >0 to <10 g of ethanol/day | 44% | 39% | 36% | 37% | 37% |
| ≥10 g of ethanol/day | 15% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% |
| Unknown | 9% | 10% | 13% | 11% | 12% |
| Physical activity level (cohort-specific tertiles) | |||||
| Low | 21% | 42% | 44% | 48% | 53% |
| Medium | 24% | 20% | 17% | 15% | 12% |
| High | 32% | 15% | 14% | 13% | 14% |
| Unknown | 23% | 22% | 26% | 24% | 22% |
| Waist circumference in cm (males), median a | 89 | 130 | 140 | 141 | 152 |
| Waist circumference in cm (females), median a | 74 | 110 | 117 | 122 | 122 |
| Prevalent conditions a | |||||
| Diabetes | 2% | 15% | 17% | 22% | 22% |
| Hypertension | 8% | 27% | 27% | 24% | 29% |
Data are percent, unless otherwise indicated.
a
Among those without missing values. Proportion missing: waist circumference, 73%; diabetes, 8%; hypertension, 32%.