Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the study population according to sex-specific quartiles of UPF consumption (N = 110,260), NutriNet-Santé cohort, France, 2009–2019a.
| All participants | Quartileb 1 | Quartileb 2 | Quartileb 3 | Quartileb 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 27,609) | (n = 27,576) | (n = 27,556) | (n = 27,519) | ||
| UPF (%) | 17.1 (10.3) | 7.5 (2.1) | 13.2 (1.8) | 18.7 (2.2) | 32.4 (9.6) |
| Age, years | 43.1 (14.6) | 47.7 (13.7) | 44.9 (14.3) | 42.4 (14.6) | 37.5 (14.1) |
| Sex, women, n (%) | 86,253 (78.2) | 21,601 (78.2) | 21,574 (78.2) | 21,553 (78.2) | 21,525 (78.2) |
| Educational level, n (%) | |||||
| <High school degree | 20,013 (18.1) | 5,212 (18.9) | 4,941 (17.9) | 4,873 (17.7) | 4,987 (18.1) |
| <2 years after high school | 19,061 (17.3) | 4,145 (15.0) | 4,300 (15.6) | 4,764 (17.3) | 5,852 (21.3) |
| ≥2 years after high school | 71,186 (64.6) | 18,252 (66.1) | 18,335 (66.5) | 17,919 (65.0) | 16,680 (60.6) |
| Marital status, n (%) | |||||
| Single (living alone) | 32,532 (29.5) | 7,380 (26.7) | 7,383 (26.8) | 7,990 (29.0) | 9,779 (35.5) |
| In couple | 77,728 (70.5) | 20,229 (73.3) | 20,193 (73.2) | 19,566 (71.0) | 17,740 (64.5) |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 23.8 (4.6) | 23.8 ± 4.4 | 23.8 ± 4.3 | 23.8 ± 4.5 | 23.9 ± 5.0 |
| Smoking status, n (%) | |||||
| Current | 18,731 (17.0) | 4,181 (15.1) | 4,319 (15.7) | 4,526 (16.4) | 5,705 (20.7) |
| Former | 36,243 (32.9) | 10,564 (38.3) | 9,373 (34.0) | 8,852 (32.1) | 7,454 (27.1) |
| Never | 55,286 (50.1) | 12,864 (46.6) | 13,884 (50.3) | 14,178 (51.4) | 14,360 (52.2) |
| IPAQ physical activity level, n (%)c | |||||
| High | 31,638 (33.2) | 9,152 (38.0) | 8,222 (34.0) | 7,671 (32.2) | 6,593 (28.3) |
| Moderate | 40,825 (42.8) | 10,171 (42.2) | 10,516 (43.6) | 10,251 (43.0) | 9,887 (42.4) |
| Low | 22,881 (24.0) | 4,748 (19.7) | 5,391 (22.3) | 5,918 (24.8) | 6,824 (29.3) |
| Energy intake, kcal/d | 1,893.2 (503.9) | 1,816.2 (473.8) | 1,896.5 (489.0) | 1,925.5 (507.8) | 1,934.70 (534.5) |
| Alcohol intake, g/d | 7.9 (12.7) | 8.8 (13.5) | 8.7 (13.0) | 7.8 (12.4) | 6.2 (11.7) |
| Sodium intake, mg/d | 2,683.9 (954.6) | 2,536.2 (919.5) | 2,696.7 (931.5) | 2,762.0 (962.1) | 2,741.0 (987.4) |
| SFA, g/d | 32.8 (13.2) | 29.7 (12.2) | 32.7 (12.7) | 33.9 (13.2) | 34.74 (13.9) |
| Dietary fibre, g/d | 19.6 (7.6) | 21.0 (8.1) | 20.0 (7.4) | 19.7 (7.3) | 17.7 (7.4) |
| Sugar, g/d | 92.2 (35.4) | 85.3 (33.9) | 90.9 (32.7) | 93.7 (34.0) | 99.1 (39.1) |
aValues are means (SDs) or n (%).
bSex-specific quartiles of the proportion of UPF intake in the total quantity of food consumed. Cut-offs for quartiles were 10.2, 15.5, and 22.5 for men and 9.9, 15.2, and 22.1 for women, respectively.
cAvailable for 95,344 participants. Participants were categorized into the “high,” “moderate,” and “low” categories according to IPAQ guidelines [52] (Method C in S1 Appendix).
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; IPAQ, International Physical Activity Questionnaire; SFA, saturated fatty acid; UPF, ultra-processed food