Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics of Men and Women Across Quintile Categories of Saturated Fatty Acid Intake, as a Percentage of Total Energy Intake
| NHS, 1980 |
HPFS, 1986 |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFA intake (%E) |
Q1 (9.6) |
Q2 (11.3) |
Q3 (12.6) |
Q4 (14.1) |
Q5 (16.9) |
Q1 (7.4) |
Q2 (9.2) |
Q3 (10.4) |
Q4 (11.6) |
Q5 (13.6) |
| Age, yrs | 47.7 | 46.6 | 46.3 | 46.0 | 45.8 | 54.2 | 53.6 | 53.0 | 52.6 | 52.5 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 23.8 | 24.1 | 24.2 | 24.3 | 24.4 | 24.6 | 25.2 | 25.4 | 25.7 | 26.0 |
| Exercise, h/week | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 2.2 |
| Current smoking, % | 27 | 28 | 26 | 27 | 30 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 14 |
| Premenopausal, % | 55 | 56 | 56 | 56 | 57 | - | - | - | ||
| Multivitamin use, % | 38 | 36 | 36 | 34 | 32 | 69 | 65 | 63 | 61 | 58 |
| Regular aspirin use, % | 43 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 47 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 26 |
| Alcohol, g/day | 9.4 | 8.2 | 7.6 | 6.9 | 5.4 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.3 | 10.7 | 8.7 |
| Cholesterol, mg/dl | 235 | 269 | 286 | 310 | 363 | 216 | 263 | 290 | 318 | 367 |
| Hypercholesterolemia, % | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 7 |
| Hypertension, % | 17 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 18 |
| Family history of diabetes, % | 27 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 21 |
| Family history of MI, % | 19 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 36 | 33 | 31 | 32 | 30 |
| Total energy, kcal/day | 1393 | 1453 | 1492 | 1552 | 1634 | 1886 | 1928 | 1997 | 2032 | 2069 |
| Nutrient intake, %E | ||||||||||
| Protein | 18.4 | 18.5 | 18.7 | 18.8 | 19.4 | 18.2 | 18.4 | 18.4 | 18.5 | 18.8 |
| Total fatty acids | 25.2 | 30.5 | 33.4 | 36.6 | 43.9 | 23.4 | 28.6 | 31.3 | 33.8 | 38.2 |
| MUFA | 9.8 | 12.1 | 13.4 | 15.0 | 18.3 | 8.7 | 10.9 | 12.0 | 13.0 | 14.6 |
| PUFA | 4.5 | 5.0 | 5.2 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 6.1 | 6.0 |
| Trans fat | 1.6 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
| Total carbohydrates | 51.3 | 46.8 | 44.2 | 41.2 | 34.2 | 55.1 | 49.8 | 47.5 | 45.3 | 41.3 |
| Carbohydrates from whole grains | 1.20 | 1.14 | 1.05 | 0.99 | 0.72 | 5.2 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
| Carbohydrates from refined starches/added sugars | 23.9 | 22.8 | 21.8 | 20.8 | 17.7 | 23.3 | 23.6 | 23.8 | 23.8 | 22.6 |
BMI = body mass index; HPFS = Health Professionals Follow-up Study; MI = myocardial infarction; MUFA = monounsaturated fatty acids; NHS = Nurses’ Health Study; PUFA = polyunsaturated fatty acids; SFA = saturated fatty acids; %E = percent of energy intake.