TABLE 1.

Age-standardized characteristics of 86,149 women in the NHS I in 1994 and 94,715 women in the NHS II in 1995 by quintiles of magnesium, potassium, and calcium intakes¹

	Magnesium						Potassium						Calcium
	NHS I			NHS II			NHS I			NHS II			NHS I			NHS II
	Quintile 1	Quintile 3	Quintile 5	Quintile 1	Quintile 3	Quintile 5	Quintile 1	Quintile 3	Quintile 5	Quintile 1	Quintile 3	Quintile 5	Quintile 1	Quintile 3	Quintile 5	Quintile 1	Quintile 3	Quintile 5
n	14,962	17,543	15,534	22,349	18,811	15,695	14,393	17,271	17,189	21,177	18,369	17,747	27,825	16,002	9134	24,456	18,164	14,491
Age, y	58 ± 7	60 ± 7	62 ± 7	40 ± 5	41 ± 5	41 ± 5	58 ± 7	60 ± 7	62 ± 7	40 ± 5	41 ± 5	42 ± 4	60 ± 7	60 ± 7	62 ± 7	41 ± 5	40 ± 5	41 ± 5
BMI, kg/m2	26.7 ± 5.5	26.5 ± 5.2	26.0 ± 5.0	26.2 ± 6.5	25.5 ± 5.7	25.3 ± 5.5	26.4 ± 5.5	26.4 ± 5.1	26.5 ± 5.2	26.0 ± 6.5	25.6 ± 5.7	25.6 ± 5.5	26.5 ± 5.3	26.5 ± 5.2	26.1 ± 5.0	26.0 ± 6.1	25.7 ± 5.8	25.4 ± 5.6
Physical activity, METs/wk	14.6 ± 20.7	19.1 ± 22.5	21.4 ± 28.7	14.0 ± 19.11	19.0 ± 22.9	24.9 ± 28.6	14.8 ± 22.0	18.7 ± 22.1	25.2 ± 30.0	14.4 ± 19.7	18.0 ± 21.5	25.0 ± 28.8	15.8 ± 21.7	19.6 ± 24.2	22.6 ± 26.9	16.1 ± 21.5	19.6 ± 23.9	21.3 ± 25.5
Smoking, %
Never	48	44	41	69	64	62	47	45	41	71	66	58	42	44	47	63	66	67
Past	35	42	47	18	25	29	36	42	46	18	24	30	37	43	44	22	24	25
Current	17	14	12	13	11	9	17	13	13	11	10	12	21	13	9	15	10	18
Aspirin use, %	20	28	30	6	8	8	23	27	29	7	7	9	21	28	31	11	11	12
Thiazide use, %	6	7	7	2	2	2	5	7	8	2	2	3	6	7	7	7	7	9
Multivitamin, %	22	39	59	26	39	58	30	41	46	33	40	45	20	40	59	26	42	57
PMH therapy, %	29	37	41	8	8	10	31	37	37	8	9	11	26	36	46	8	8	12
Calcium, mg/d	685 ± 245	913 ± 246	1184 ± 348	767 ± 292	1040 ± 339	1334 ± 459	703 ± 266	908 ± 285	1141 ± 339	826 ± 342	1032 ± 366	1225 ± 441	513 ± 80	867 ± 50	1433 ± 234	608 ± 98	1027 ± 58	1722 ± 350
Magnesium, mg/d	226 ± 21	297 ± 8	387 ± 38	240 ± 25	321 ± 9	434 ± 57	238 ± 35	297 ± 34	364 ± 48	256 ± 50	321 ± 48	394 ± 57	258 ± 45	300 ± 46	343 ± 58	274 ± 54	328 ± 58	377 ± 82
Potassium, mg/d	2361 ± 297	2930 ± 271	3452 ± 406	2451 ± 341	3070 ± 330	3521 ± 512	2247 ± 210	2880 ± 69	3590 ± 271	2315 ± 240	2999 ± 70	3261 ± 317	2568 ± 423	2927 ± 406	3222 ± 466	2710 ± 495	3045 ± 469	3266 ± 533
Alcohol, g/d	5.3 ± 10.7	5.3 ± 9.2	4.6 ± 8.1	2.5 ± 5.8	3.7 ± 6.9	3.6 ± 6.6	6.0 ± 11.8	5.1 ± 8.9	4.2 ± 7.4	2.8 ± 6.8	3.6 ± 6.7	3.5 ± 6.0	6.4 ± 11.8	5.1 ± 8.9	3.9 ± 7.3	3.6 ± 7.4	3.4 ± 6.1	2.9 ± 5.8
Diabetes, %	6	6	6	1	1	1	6	6	7	1	1	1	6	7	6	1	1	1
Hypertension, %	39	37	35	7	6	6	37	36	38	7	6	6	39	37	35	7	5	6
High cholesterol, %	47	48	48	12	11	11	47	48	48	12	11	11	45	48	49	12	10	12
Parental history of heart disease, %	20	21	21	18	18	18	19	20	22	18	18	20	20	21	20	19	18	18

¹Means ± SDs are given for continuous variables, and percentages of population are given for dichotomous variables. Nutrients except alcohol were calorie-adjusted. MET, metabolic equivalent task; NHS, Nurses’ Health Study; PMH, postmenopausal hormone.