TABLE 1.
Baseline characteristics of the study participants according to the frequency of tea consumption1
| Men (n = 199,294) | Women (n = 288,083) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | Never | Occasionally | Weekly | Daily | Never | Occasionally | Weekly | Daily |
| Participants, n | 38,360 | 58,527 | 19,940 | 82,467 | 131,974 | 94,595 | 15,701 | 45,813 |
| Age, y | 51.95 ± 11.23 | 51.88 ± 10.59 | 51.82 ± 10.46 | 51.75 ± 10.52 | 50.92 ± 10.61 | 50.45 ± 9.88 | 49.99 ± 9.81 | 49.52 ± 10.18 |
| Rural area | 58.95 | 58.05 | 57.15 | 56.25 | 55.05 | 56.72 | 58.39 | 60.03 |
| Married | 92.95 | 93.39 | 93.80 | 94.19 | 92.31 | 92.63 | 92.93 | 93.23 |
| Middle school and higher | 64.00 | 61.84 | 59.63 | 57.38 | 35.54 | 41.51 | 47.75 | 54.05 |
| Household income ≥35,000 yuan/y | 13.81 | 17.00 | 20.76 | 25.09 | 15.04 | 16.45 | 17.98 | 19.61 |
| Ever smoker2 | 79.09 | 83.96 | 87.87 | 90.93 | 3.49 | 4.11 | 4.82 | 5.65 |
| Ever alcohol consumer3 | 80.68 | 81.09 | 81.50 | 81.89 | 34.80 | 36.23 | 37.69 | 39.17 |
| Physical activity, MET-h/d | 22.64 ± 16.79 | 22.62 ± 15.68 | 22.61 ± 14.08 | 22.59 ± 14.47 | 22.02 ± 13.53 | 20.71 ± 12.53 | 19.40 ± 12.01 | 18.09 ± 11.11 |
| BMI,4 kg/m2 | 23.42 ± 3.17 | 23.40 ± 3.20 | 23.38 ± 3.26 | 23.36 ± 3.27 | 23.65 ± 3.44 | 23.76 ± 3.36 | 23.86 ± 3.38 | 23.97 ± 3.56 |
| Average weekly consumption5 | ||||||||
| Red meat, d/wk | 3.39 ± 2.61 | 3.73 ± 2.53 | 4.07 ± 2.39 | 4.41 ± 2.43 | 3.18 ± 2.53 | 3.57 ± 2.49 | 3.95 ± 2.39 | 4.34 ± 2.41 |
| Fresh vegetables, d/wk | 6.84 ± 0.78 | 6.84 ± 0.74 | 6.84 ± 1.04 | 6.84 ± 0.72 | 6.79 ± 0.89 | 6.84 ± 0.70 | 6.89 ± 0.75 | 6.93 ± 0.53 |
| Fresh fruits, d/wk | 2.06 ± 2.31 | 2.17 ± 2.31 | 2.28 ± 2.32 | 2.40 ± 2.31 | 2.49 ± 2.47 | 2.79 ± 2.59 | 3.09 ± 2.64 | 3.39 ± 2.61 |
| Diabetes | 4.39 | 4.34 | 4.30 | 4.26 | 4.46 | 4.54 | 4.62 | 4.70 |
| Hypertension | 34.40 | 34.72 | 35.04 | 35.36 | 30.36 | 29.80 | 29.25 | 28.70 |
| Family history of stroke | 21.41 | 19.14 | 17.06 | 15.16 | 18.33 | 17.31 | 16.33 | 15.40 |
1Values are means ± SDs or percentages unless otherwise indicated, which were adjusted for age and residential region, as appropriate, using either multiple linear regression (for continuous outcomes) or logistic regression (for binary outcomes). All baseline characteristics were associated with the frequency of tea consumption, with P < 0.001 across categories, except for physical activity (P = 0.468), BMI (P = 0.002), fresh vegetable intake (P = 0.250), and diabetes (P = 0.213) among men and diabetes (P = 0.019) among women. MET, metabolic equivalent.
2Ever smokers included occasional smokers, ex-smokers, and current regular smokers.
3Ever alcohol consumers included occasional alcohol consumers, ex-alcohol consumers, and current regular alcohol consumers.
4BMI was defined as the body weight divided by the square of the height.
5Average weekly intakes of red meat, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruits were calculated by assigning participants to the midpoint of their consumption category (daily, 4–6 d/wk, 1–3 d/wk, monthly, or rarely or never).