Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of sample by subsequent diagnosis of colorectal cancer over 10 years of follow-up, NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, 1995–2006

	Overall	Did not develop colorectal cancer	Developed colorectal cancer	p Value
N	398 458	391 943	6515
Age (years), %
<55	17.28	17.42	7.97	<0.001
55–59	22.04	22.15	15.25
60–64	26.29	26.28	27.50
65–69	30.33	30.12	43.29
>69	4.06	4.03	5.99
Gender
Female, %	40.60	40.76	31.19	<0.001
Race/ethnicity, %
Non-Hispanic white	92.31	92.30	92.84	0.031
Non-Hispanic black	3.99	3.98	4.16
Hispanic	1.99	2.00	1.65
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.42	1.43	1.06
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.29	0.29	0.30
Education, %
High school	26.38	26.31	30.40	<0.001
Some college	34.24	34.23	34.86
College degree	39.38	39.45	34.74
Smoking status, %
Never	37.00	37.11	30.71	<0.001
Former	50.60	50.50	56.68
Current	12.40	12.39	12.61
Physical activity (≥20 min in past 12 months), %
Never	4.41	4.40	5.32	<0.001
Rarely	13.63	13.61	15.03
1–2 times/month	13.74	13.74	13.93
1–2 times/week	21.78	21.78	21.51
2–4 times/week	26.99	27.01	25.99
3–5 times/week	19.45	19.47	18.23
Baseline weight status, %
Normal	35.09	35.18	29.98	<0.001
Overweight	42.81	42.77	44.88
Obese	22.10	22.05	25.14
Dietary scores (mean±SD)
Mediterranean Diet	4.20	4.20	4.06	<0.001
Health Eating Index	65.94	65.97	64.42	<0.001
Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension	23.85	23.85	23.41	<0.001
Food consumption
Whole grain oz./day	0.997	0.998	0.962	0.001
Dark green vegetable cups/day	0.242	0.242	0.221	<0.001
Dry beans and peas cups/day	0.101	0.101	0.100	0.472
Fruit (excluding juice) cups/day	1.264	1.265	1.223	0.003
Chicken and poultry oz./day	0.968	0.968	0.932	0.003
Fish high in omega-3 oz./day	0.169	0.169	0.165	0.051
Franks, sausages, luncheon meats oz./day	0.564	0.563	0.628	<0.001
Beef, pork, veal, lamb oz./day	1.625	1.622	1.774	0.001

Weight status was based on BMI (normal weight: 18.5–<25 kg/m²; overweight: 25–<30 kg/m²; obese: ≥30 kg/m²).

Food consumption based on equivalent values from MyPyramid Equivalents Database (MPED).

BMI, body mass index.