TABLE 3.

Cardiometabolic risk factors by quartile of HEI-2015 in nonpregnant, nonlactating US adults aged ≥19 y in NHANES 2001–2016¹

	HEI-2015 quartiles				Linear trend
	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	ß ± SE	P
BMI, kg/m2	29.51 ± 0.12	28.97 ± 0.10	28.55 ± 0.10	27.68 ± 0.08	−0.05 ± 0.003	<0.001
Waist circumference, cm	100.19 ± 0.27	98.97 ± 0.24	97.83 ± 0.25	95.66 ± 0.19	0.13 ± 0.01	<0.001
SBP, mm Hg	123.14 ± 0.29	122.64 ± 0.25	122.25 ± 0.23	121.90 ± 0.24	−0.04 ± 0.01	<0.001
DBP, mm Hg	71.27 ± 0.22	71.25 ± 0.19	71.11 ± 0.21	70.84 ± 0.23	−0.01 ± 0.01	0.18
Total cholesterol, mg/dL	196.59 ± 0.57	197.68 ± 0.60	196.72 ± 0.70	195.14 ± 0.66	−0.06 ± 0.02	0.02
LDL-C, mg/dL	116.51 ± 0.77	116.45 ± 0.73	115.79 ± 0.78	113.90 ± 0.82	−0.09 ± 0.03	0.005
HDL-C, mg/dL	51.47 ± 0.24	52.62 ± 0.23	53.33 ± 0.26	54.81 ± 0.24	0.10 ± 0.01	<0.001
Triglycerides, mg/dL	137.84 ± 2.24	135.07 ± 2.37	136.58 ± 2.80	128.60 ± 1.88	−0.20 ± 0.08	0.009
Glucose, mg/dL	105.97 ± 0.48	105.55 ± 0.49	104.24 ± 0.46	104.49 ± 0.58	−0.05 ± 0.02	0.009
Insulin, µU/mL	13.76 ± 0.27	13.19 ± 0.27	12.93 ± 0.29	12.65 ± 0.20	−0.03 ± 0.01	0.001
HOMA-IR	3.89 ± 0.10	3.70 ± 0.10	3.56 ± 0.09	3.61 ± 0.09	−0.01 ± 0.004	0.02

¹Values are means ± SEs. Covariates include age, gender, race/ethnicity, poverty-income ratio, physical activity level, current smoking status, antihypertensive medication, lipid-lowering medication, hypoglycemic medication, and BMI (excluding models for BMI and waist circumference). DBP, diastolic blood pressure; HDL-C, HDL cholesterol; HEI, Healthy Eating Index; LDL-C, LDL cholesterol; Q, quartile; SBP, systolic blood pressure.