Table 1.
Socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics of the participants
| Frequency of weight loss attempts | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Analysis cohort (n = 161,738) | Unintentional WL (n = 26,178) | Never (n = 44,054) | 1–2 (n = 33,114) | 3–4 (n = 19,465) | 5–6 (n = 13,537) | 7–8 (n = 9159) | 9–10 (n = 6054) | 11+ (n = 10,177) | |
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Age at FUQ (yrs.; mean [SD]) | 70.7 [5.3] | 72.2 [5.0] | 71.3 [5.3] | 70.7 [5.3] | 70.2 [5.3] | 69.7 [5.3] | 69.5 [5.3] | 68.9 [5.2] | 68.3 [5.1] |
| Average weight loss per attempt (lbs; mean [SD]) | 6.1 [6.9] | 0 | 0 | 9.4 [6.8] | 10.9 [5.9] | 11.6 [4.9] | 11.3 [4.7] | 11.4 [3.8] | 13.3 [3.1] |
| Female (%) | 37.9 | 42.8 | 25.1 | 38.3 | 40.7 | 42.5 | 44.0 | 48.2 | 56.5 |
| Weight change | |||||||||
| Weight losers | 28.7 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 28.7 | 22.7 | 19.5 | 17.9 | 16.1 | 10.6 |
| Weight maintainers | 50.7 | 0.0 | 79.6 | 52.8 | 54.3 | 52.4 | 51.2 | 48.0 | 40.5 |
| Weight gainers | 20.6 | 0.0 | 20.4 | 18.6 | 23.0 | 28.0 | 30.9 | 35.8 | 48.9 |
| Race/ethnicity (%) | |||||||||
| Non-Hispanic White | 92.6 | 92.5 | 91.2 | 93.2 | 93.1 | 93.4 | 93.4 | 94.3 | 93.2 |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 3.4 | 2.4 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 3.7 |
| Hispanic | 1.6 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 1.3 |
| Asian, PI or AI/AN | 1.5 | 2.7 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.7 |
| Missing | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.1 |
| Education level (%) | |||||||||
| Less than 8 years, 8–11 yrs. | 3.9 | 3.9 | 5.6 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.0 |
| 12 yrs. or completed high school | 18.0 | 18.2 | 20.5 | 17.4 | 16.6 | 16.4 | 15.2 | 15.9 | 17.0 |
| Post-high school | 9.8 | 9.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 8.9 | 9.8 | 9.7 |
| Some college | 23.0 | 21.5 | 22.1 | 22.8 | 23.1 | 23.7 | 24.8 | 26.0 | 27.3 |
| College and post graduate | 43.3 | 44.9 | 38.5 | 45.3 | 46.3 | 45.8 | 46.1 | 43.7 | 41.1 |
| Missing | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.8 |
| Starting BMI (%) | |||||||||
| 18.5–24.9 kg/m2 | 38.3 | 52.6 | 42.2 | 38.4 | 34.0 | 29.7 | 28.9 | 24.8 | 20.5 |
| 25.0–29.9 kg/m2 | 25.2 | 13.8 | 24.5 | 26.4 | 29.0 | 30.7 | 31.3 | 31.8 | 29.0 |
| 30.0–34.9 kg/m2 | 4.8 | 1.3 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 7.3 | 7.9 | 9.7 | 12.8 |
| 35.0+ kg/m2 | 31.7 | 32.4 | 30.3 | 30.7 | 31.6 | 32.3 | 31.9 | 33.7 | 37.7 |
| Reported medical conditions (%) | |||||||||
| None | 6.1 | 8.6 | 6.9 | 5.7 | 5.3 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.1 |
| 1 to 2 | 33.8 | 39.1 | 35.8 | 34.2 | 31.6 | 30.1 | 29.9 | 28.3 | 26.1 |
| 3 to 4 | 36.7 | 34.0 | 36.1 | 37.8 | 38.2 | 37.5 | 38.5 | 37.0 | 37.6 |
| 5+ | 23.4 | 18.3 | 21.2 | 22.3 | 24.9 | 27.7 | 27.2 | 30.6 | 33.1 |
| Missing | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.05 |
| Physical activity (Met-hrs./day [quintiles]; %) | |||||||||
| 0 to 17.9 | 24.9 | 22.4 | 26.9 | 24.0 | 23.6 | 24.7 | 23.6 | 25.2 | 28.6 |
| 17.9 to 29.3 | 23.3 | 22.9 | 22.9 | 23.7 | 24.4 | 23.5 | 23.3 | 22.2 | 22.7 |
| 29.3 to 48.4 | 22.7 | 22.8 | 21.7 | 23.9 | 23.4 | 23.1 | 23.3 | 23.2 | 20.7 |
| 48.4 to 78.5 | 19.4 | 20.9 | 18.7 | 19.2 | 19.5 | 19.6 | 20.1 | 20.1 | 18.1 |
| 78.5+ | 9.1 | 10.1 | 9.0 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 8.8 | 9.3 | 9.0 | 9.6 |
| Missing | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| Sitting time (hrs./day [quintiles]; %) | |||||||||
| 0.0 to 4.5 | 23.5 | 29.3 | 24.5 | 24.0 | 22.1 | 20.1 | 19.7 | 18.1 | 16.2 |
| 4.5 to 6.5 | 45.6 | 44.0 | 45.2 | 46.2 | 47.1 | 47.5 | 46.2 | 45.7 | 43.1 |
| 6.5 to 8.5 | 17.8 | 14.4 | 16.8 | 17.4 | 18.5 | 19.6 | 19.6 | 21.3 | 24.3 |
| 8.5 to 12.5 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.4 |
| 12.5+ | 2.9 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 4.7 |
| Missing | 7.8 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 7.8 | 8.3 | 8.2 |
| HEI-2015 total score (quintiles; %) | |||||||||
| 24.0 to 60.0 | 21.4 | 20.5 | 27.0 | 19.9 | 18.5 | 18.1 | 18.3 | 18.0 | 19.4 |
| 60.0 to 66.3 | 20.4 | 18.6 | 21.8 | 19.7 | 20.4 | 20.1 | 20.3 | 20.3 | 21.1 |
| 66.3 to 71.2 | 19.8 | 18.7 | 19.0 | 20.1 | 20.6 | 20.7 | 20.7 | 20.9 | 20.9 |
| 71.2 to 76.2 | 19.4 | 19.3 | 16.9 | 20.0 | 20.7 | 21.4 | 20.8 | 21.2 | 20.9 |
| 76.2+ | 19.0 | 22.9 | 15.4 | 20.2 | 19.7 | 19.8 | 19.8 | 19.6 | 17.8 |
| Smoking status/dose (%) | |||||||||
| Never | 35.6 | 40.9 | 34.9 | 36.1 | 33.9 | 33.6 | 33.3 | 32.3 | 33.2 |
| Former- ≤ 20 cigarettes/day | 26.7 | 25.6 | 26.7 | 27.4 | 27.7 | 27.0 | 26.9 | 26.3 | 25.4 |
| Former- > 20 cigarettes/day | 23.2 | 15.4 | 23.1 | 22.9 | 25.1 | 27.0 | 27.4 | 28.9 | 28.8 |
| Current- ≤ 20 cigarettes/day | 3.2 | 5.2 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Current- > 20 cigarettes/day | 2.9 | 4.4 | 3.2 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.5 |
| Missing | 8.4 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 8.4 | 8.0 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 7.5 | 7.7 |
| Self-reported overall health (%) | |||||||||
| Excellent | 13.0 | 16.4 | 11.9 | 14.0 | 13.2 | 12.1 | 11.8 | 11.6 | 8.3 |
| Very good | 36.3 | 37.3 | 35.8 | 38.3 | 37.4 | 36.0 | 34.9 | 33.9 | 30.8 |
| Good | 35.1 | 31.7 | 36.3 | 34.2 | 34.7 | 35.5 | 36.3 | 37.2 | 39.1 |
| Fair | 11.9 | 10.8 | 12.4 | 10.4 | 11.3 | 12.4 | 13.2 | 13.0 | 16.5 |
| Poor | 1.9 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 3.4 |
| Missing | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Age at retirement (yrs.; %) | |||||||||
| Not retired | 18.6 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 18.7 | 19.9 | 20.7 | 21.7 | 23.5 | 25.0 |
| < 50 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 2.8 |
| 50 to 55 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 5.8 |
| 55 to 60 | 18.7 | 17.7 | 18.8 | 18.5 | 18.7 | 19.7 | 19.5 | 19.6 | 19.0 |
| 60 to 65 | 32.3 | 33.0 | 33.6 | 32.6 | 31.9 | 31.1 | 30.4 | 30.1 | 29.3 |
| 65 to 70 | 15.6 | 17.7 | 16.3 | 15.8 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 14.2 | 12.9 | 12.3 |
| ≥ 70 | 4.7 | 6.1 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 3.4 | 3.1 |
| Missing | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.8 |
| Marital status (%) | |||||||||
| Married or living as married | 70.7 | 67.9 | 75.6 | 71.1 | 69.8 | 69.6 | 68.5 | 67.4 | 62.3 |
| Widowed | 9.8 | 11.8 | 8.5 | 9.7 | 9.8 | 9.4 | 9.7 | 9.6 | 11.0 |
| Divorced | 12.9 | 12.9 | 10.0 | 12.5 | 14.0 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 16.3 | 19.1 |
| Separated | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.3 |
| Never married | 5.0 | 5.8 | 4.2 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.1 | 5.8 |
| Missing | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Age at menopause (yrs.; %) | |||||||||
| < 40 | 6.4 | 5.9 | 4.4 | 6.0 | 6.8 | 7.4 | 7.7 | 9.6 | 11.9 |
| 40 to 45 | 5.7 | 6.3 | 3.9 | 5.5 | 6.2 | 6.3 | 6.8 | 6.4 | 8.5 |
| 45 to 50 | 9.0 | 10.7 | 6.2 | 9.2 | 9.3 | 9.7 | 10.3 | 10.8 | 12.4 |
| 50 to 55 | 12.1 | 14.8 | 7.8 | 12.8 | 12.9 | 13.6 | 13.4 | 14.3 | 16.0 |
| ≥ 55 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 3.4 |
| Still menstruating | 1.8 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 3.8 |
| Male | 62.1 | 57.2 | 74.9 | 61.7 | 59.4 | 57.5 | 56.0 | 51.8 | 43.5 |
| Missing | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
PI Pacific Islander, AI American Indian, AN Alaskan Native, BMI body mass index, HEI healthy eating index, WL weight loss, hrs. hours, yrs. years; FUQ, follow-up questionnaire, SD standard deviation