Table 1.

Factor-loading matrix for the major factors (dietary patterns), (n=54,672 women), E3N Study-France^*

	Factor 1 (Prudent pattern)	Factor 2 (Western pattern)	Factor 3 (Nuts and wine pattern)
Fruity vegetables	0.89
Root vegetables	0.85
Cabbages	0.79
Mushrooms	0.73
Grain and peas	0.72
Leafy vegetables (except cabbages)	0.71
Stalk vegetables	0.70
Fruits with beta carotene	0.61
Fruits with citric	0.60
Condiments and sauces	0.42	0.32
Red meat	0.34
Poultry	0.33
Blue-fish	0.32
Onion, garlic		0.73
Dough and pastry		0.70
Cream desserts		0.62
Ice cream		0.60
Processed meats		0.55	0.33
Cakes, pies, pastries		0.45
Pasta, rice, grain		0.40
Potatoes and other tubers		0.31
Egg		0.30
Nuts and seeds			0.58
Salty biscuits, aperitif biscuits			0.56
Wine			0.48
Olives			0.45
Fortified wines			0.40
Cocktails, punches			0.36
Crustaceans, mollusks			0.35
Spirits			0.35

^*Diet was assessed in 1993. Factor loadings represent the correlation between factor scores and intake of food groups. Foods or foods groups with factor loadings < 0.30 for both factors were excluded. Absolute values < 0.30 were not listed in the table for simplicity; those with loadings of 0.40 or greater are underlined. Factors loadings presented are those resulted from the orthogonal rotation.

By construction, the dietary patterns were independent and women with a high score on the “nuts and wine” pattern could also have a high score on the “prudent” and/or “Western” pattern. In this analysis, 10.9% of the women were in the highest tertile both for the “prudent” and the “Western” diet, 11.5% in the highest tertile both for the “prudent” and the “nuts and wine” pattern and 12.5% in the highest tertile both for the “Western” and the “nuts and wine” pattern.