Table 1.
Age standardized baseline characteristics in the Nurse’s Health Study (1984) and Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study (1986), according to groups of total SFA intake*
| Characteristic* | Total SFA intake (energy (%)†) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse’s Health Study | Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study | ||||||||||
| Q1 (n=14 629) | Q2 (n=14 630) | Q3 (n=14 629) | Q4 (n=14 630) | Q5 (n=14 629) | Q1 (n=8527) | Q2 (n=8527) | Q3 (n=8527) | Q4 (n=8527) | Q5 (n=8527) | ||
| Total saturated fat (energy (%)) | 8.2 (1.1) | 10.1 (0.4) | 11.3 (0.3) | 12.6 (0.4) | 15.0 (1.6) | 6.9 (1.2) | 9.1 (0.4) | 10.4 (0.4) | 11.7 (0.4) | 14.3 (1.7) | |
| Age (years) | 51.7 (7.1) | 50.6 (7.2) | 49.8 (7.2) | 49.5 (7.1) | 49.4 (7.0) | 54.2 (9.6) | 53.5 (9.7) | 52.8 (9.6) | 52.5 (9.4) | 52.7 (9.4) | |
| White people (No (%)) | 14 038 (96) | 14 284 (98) | 14 374 (98) | 14 397 (98) | 14 444 (99) | 7916 (93) | 8042 (93) | 8160 (94) | 8208 (96) | 8231 (96) | |
| Family history of myocardial infarction (No (%)) | 5890 (39) | 5738 (39) | 5690 (39) | 5571 (39) | 5581 (39) | 3044 (35) | 2783 (35) | 2699 (33) | 2615 (32) | 2555 (31) | |
| Alcohol intake (g/day) | 9.8 (15.3) | 7.5 (11.5) | 6.6 (10.0) | 5.8 (9.1) | 5.1 (8.3) | 14.1 (19.3) | 13.2 (16.3) | 11.5 (14.6) | 10.0 (13.0) | 8.4 (11.9) | |
| Current smoking (No (%)) | 3105 (22) | 3191 (22) | 3248 (22) | 3608 (25) | 4463 (31) | 477 (6) | 635 (7) | 773 (9) | 966 (11) | 1219 (14) | |
| Multivitamin use (No (%)) | 6256 (42) | 5605 (38) | 5381 (37) | 4985 (34) | 4807 (33) | 4141 (48) | 3781 (44) | 3528 (41) | 3277 (39) | 3071 (36) | |
| Any use of postmenopausal hormone (No (%)) | 3936 (23) | 3472 (23) | 3107 (22) | 2867 (21) | 2722 (20) | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Current use of aspirin (No (%)) | 9317 (64) | 9825 (67) | 10018 (68) | 10065 (69) | 9844 (67) | 2302 (26) | 2363 (28) | 2344 (28) | 2282 (27) | 2217 (26) | |
| Hypertension (No (%)) | 3539 (22) | 3099 (21) | 2816 (20) | 2852 (20) | 2765 (20) | 1846 (21) | 1778 (21) | 1631 (19) | 1593 (19) | 1531 (18) | |
| Hypercholesterolemia (No (%)) | 1698 (10) | 1259 (8) | 1050 (7) | 910 (6) | 867 (6) | 1411 (16) | 975 (11) | 834 (10) | 686 (8) | 575 (7) | |
| Physical activity (metabolic equivalent tasks/week) | 17.8 (25.2) | 15.0 (22.7) | 13.4 (18.3) | 12.8 (17.9) | 11.9 (18.9) | 28.4 (35.9) | 23.2 (31.6) | 20.4 (29.0) | 18.6 (26.2) | 16.5 (23.4) | |
| Body mass index | 24.2 (4.2) | 24.7 (4.4) | 25.0 (4.6) | 25.3 (4.8) | 25.3 (5.1) | 24.1 (4.7) | 24.7 (4.7) | 25.0 (4.9) | 25.3 (5.0) | 25.5 (5.1) | |
| Dietary factors | |||||||||||
| Total energy (kcal‡) | 1688 (530) | 1751 (520) | 1770 (526) | 1770 (527) | 1757 (549) | 1893 (601) | 1957 (589) | 2021 (610) | 2038 (617) | 2081 (668) | |
| Cereal fiber (g/day) | 5.0 (3.0) | 4.4 (2.3) | 4.1 (2.1) | 3.8 (1.9) | 3.2 (1.7) | 7.8 (5.4) | 6.4 (3.8) | 5.7 (3.2) | 5.1 (2.9) | 4.3 (2.6) | |
| Fruit and vegetables (servings/day) | 6.3 (3.0) | 5.6 (2.5) | 5.2 (2.3) | 4.8 (2.1) | 4.2 (2.0) | 6.9 (3.4) | 5.8 (2.6) | 5.3 (2.4) | 4.8 (2.2) | 4.2 (2.1) | |
| Whole grain carbohydrate (energy (%)) | 3.4 (3.4) | 2.6 (2.3) | 2.3 (2.0) | 1.9 (1.7) | 1.5 (1.5) | 4.9 (4.3) | 3.4 (2.8) | 2.8 (2.3) | 2.3 (2.0) | 1.8 (1.7) | |
| Non-whole grain carbohydrate (energy (%)) | 49.7 (8.3) | 46.2 (6.3) | 44.0 (5.9) | 42.1 (5.7) | 38.6 (6.3) | 49.5 (8.7) | 45.5 (6.9) | 43.8 (6.5) | 41.8 (6.1) | 38.6 (6.4) | |
| Plant protein (energy (%)) | 5.3 (1.4) | 5.0 (1.0) | 4.7 (0.9) | 4.5 (0.8) | 4.2 (0.8) | 5.9 (1.5) | 5.2 (1.04) | 4.9 (0.9) | 4.6 (0.9) | 4.2 (0.9) | |
| Non-plant protein (energy (%)) | 11.7 (3.9) | 12.6 (3.3) | 13.1 (3.2) | 13.5 (3.2) | 14.2 (3.5) | 12.4 (4.0) | 13.3 (3.5) | 13.5 (3.3) | 14.0 (3.3) | 14.6 (3.4) | |
| Polyunsaturated fat (energy (%)) | 6.2 (1.8) | 6.6 (1.7) | 6.8 (1.7) | 6.8 (1.7) | 6.6 (1.8) | 5.5 (1.6) | 6.0 (1.5) | 6.1 (1.5) | 6.1 (1.5) | 6.0 (1.6) | |
| Monounsaturated fat (energy (%)) | 10.0 (1.9) | 11.9 (1.6) | 12.8 (1.7) | 13.7 (1.7) | 14.8 (1.9) | 9.1 (2.0) | 11.3 (1.7) | 12.5 (1.8) | 13.5 (1.8) | 14.9 (2.0) | |
| Trans fat (energy (%)) | 1.6 (0.6) | 1.9 (0.6) | 2.0 (0.6) | 2.1 (0.6) | 2.1 (0.6) | 0.8 (0.4) | 1.2 (0.4) | 1.3 (0.4) | 1.4 (0.5) | 1.6 (0.5) | |
| 4:0 (energy (%)) | 0.15 (0.06) | 0.18 (0.06) | 0.21 (0.07) | 0.24 (0.08) | 0.33 (0.14) | 0.10 (0.05) | 0.14 (0.06) | 0.16 (0.07) | 0.19 (0.08) | 0.27 (0.13) | |
| 6:0 (energy (%)) | 0.08 (0.03) | 0.10 (0.04) | 0.11 (0.05) | 0.13 (0.05) | 0.20 (0.09) | 0.06 (0.03) | 0.08 (0.03) | 0.09 (0.04) | 0.11 (0.05) | 0.16 (0.08) | |
| 8:0 (energy (%)) | 0.05 (0.02) | 0.06 (0.02) | 0.06 (0.03) | 0.07 (0.03) | 0.09 (0.05) | 0.04 (0.02) | 0.05 (0.02) | 0.05 (0.02) | 0.06 (0.03) | 0.08 (0.05) | |
| 10:0 (energy (%)) | 0.11 (0.04) | 0.14 (0.04) | 0.16 (0.05) | 0.19 (0.06) | 0.27 (0.10) | 0.09 (0.04) | 0.12 (0.04) | 0.14 (0.04) | 0.16 (0.05) | 0.23 (0.10) | |
| 12:0 (energy (%)) | 0.15 (0.09) | 0.19 (0.11) | 0.22 (0.13) | 0.26 (0.15) | 0.36 (0.21) | 0.12 (0.08) | 0.16 (0.10) | 0.19 (0.12) | 0.22 (0.13) | 0.31 (0.28) | |
| 14:0 (energy (%)) | 0.70 (0.17) | 0.89 (0.15) | 1.01 (0.17) | 1.16 (0.20) | 1.53 (0.36) | 0.54 (0.16) | 0.74 (0.15) | 0.87 (0.16) | 1.01 (0.18) | 1.35 (0.36) | |
| 16:0 (energy (%)) | 4.84 (0.66) | 5.90 (0.34) | 6.54 (0.35) | 7.18 (0.40) | 8.34 (0.85) | 4.16 (0.72) | 5.40 (0.34) | 6.12 (0.34) | 6.81 (0.40) | 8.03 (0.87) | |
| 18:0 (energy (%)) | 2.13 (0.36) | 2.68 (0.22) | 3.00 (0.24) | 3.33 (0.27) | 3.90 (0.51) | 1.75 (0.40) | 2.41 (0.25) | 2.80 (0.27) | 3.18 (0.32) | 3.83 (0.59) | |
SFA=saturated fatty acid; 4:0=butyric acid; 6:0=caproic acid; 8:0=caprylic acid; 10:0=capric acid; 12:0=lauric acid; 14:0=myristic acid; 16:0=palmitic acid; 18:0=stearic acid.
*Data are age adjusted mean (standard error) for continuous variables, and raw number of participants and age adjusted percentages (“No (%)”) for categorical variables.
†Total SFA intake as percentage of energy divided into five equal groups.
‡1 kcal=4.18 kJ.