Table 2. Ethnic differences (compared with white Europeans) in blood lipids, body build, and dietary intake1 .
| Black African-white European (n = 285) | Black Caribbean-white European (n = 188) | South Asian-white European (n = 534) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean difference | (95% CI) | P (no difference) | Mean difference | (95% CI) | P (no difference) | Mean difference | (95% CI) | P (no difference) | |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/L) | −0.14 | (−0.25, −0.04) | 0.01 | 0.06 | (−0.06, 0.18) | 0.34 | 0.00 | (−0.09, 0.10) | 0.95 |
| LDL cholesterol (mmol/L) | −0.10 | (−0.20, −0.01) | 0.03 | 0.09 | (−0.02, 0.20) | 0.10 | 0.03 | (−0.06, 0.11) | 0.53 |
| HDL cholesterol (mmol/L) | 0.01 | (−0.04, 0.05) | 0.78 | 0.00 | (−0.05, 0.06) | 0.95 | −0.07 | (−0.11. −0.03) | <0.001 |
| Triglyceride (mmol/L)2 | −0.11 | (−0.16, −0.06) | <0.0001 | −0.05 | (−0.11, 0.02) | 0.14 | 0.14 | (0.09, 0.20) | <0.0001 |
| Height (cm) | 4.0 | (3.0, 5.0) | <0.0001 | 4.3 | (3.2, 5.4) | <0.0001 | −0.4 | (−1.2, 0.5) | 0.39 |
| Weight (kg) 2 | 0.08 | (0.04, 0.11) | <0.0001 | 0.11 | (0.07, 0.16) | <0.0001 | −0.04 | (−0.06, −0.01) | 0.02 |
| Ponderal index (kg/m3) 2 | −0.01 | (−0.03, 0.01) | 0.38 | 0.02 | (−0.01, 0.04) | 0.28 | −0.03 | (−0.05, −0.01) | 0.01 |
| Sum of skinfold thickness (mm) 2 | −0.04 | (−0.11, 0.03) | 0.26 | −0.05 | (−0.13, 0.03) | 0.21 | 0.01 | (−0.05, 0.08) | 0.66 |
| Fat mass index (kg/m5) | 0.01 | (−0.05, 0.08) | 0.78 | 0.01 | (−0.06, 0.09) | 0.83 | 0.03 | (−0.03, 0.09) | 0.36 |
| Energy (kcal) | 31 | (−41, 103) | 0.40 | −20 | (−103, 63) | 0.64 | 104 | (40, 168) | 0.001 |
| Fat (% of energy) | −1.7 | (−2.6. −0.7) | <0.001 | −0.6 | (−1.6, 0.5) | 0.31 | 1.1 | (0.2, 1.9) | 0.01 |
| Saturated fat (% of energy) | −1.4 | (−1.9. −0.9) | <0.0001 | −0.8 | (−1.4. −0.2) | 0.005 | −0.6 | (−1.0. −0.1) | 0.01 |
| Monounsaturated fat (% of energy) | −0.5 | (−0.9, 0.0) | 0.03 | −0.1 | (−0.6, 0.4) | 0.60 | 0.3 | (−0.1, 0.6) | 0.15 |
| Polyunsaturated fat (% of energy) | 0.0 | (−0.4, 0.4) | 0.99 | 0.2 | (−0.3, 0.7) | 0.40 | 1.1 | (0.7, 1.5) | <0.0001 |
| n−6:n−3 2 | 0.01 | (−0.1, 0.1) | 0.84 | −0.03 | (−0.1, 0.1) | 0.46 | 0.04 | (0.0, 0.1) | 0.26 |
| Carbohydrate (% of energy) | 1.4 | (0.4, 2.4) | 0.007 | −0.1 | (−1.3, 1.0) | 0.83 | −1.1 | (−2.0. −0.3) | 0.01 |
1
All ethnic differences apply to the difference from white Europeans and were adjusted for age quartiles, sex, observer (for physical and dietary measurements), time since last food intake (for lipids), month, and school (random effect). P values were derived from multilevel models based on maximum likelihood estimates. There were missing values for height, weight, ponderal index (n = 3), sum of skinfold thickness, and fat mass index (n = 4).
2
Values are proportional differences for log-transformed variables.