Table 1.
Age-adjusted characteristics of men and women across levels of fruit and vegetable intakes *.
| Quintiles of fruit and vegetable intake | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Q5 | |
| Nurses' Health Study | |||||
| Person-years | 364165 | 364492 | 364462 | 364562 | 364377 |
| Intake level, servings/day | 2.0±0.5 | 3.3±0.3 | 4.2±0.3 | 5.3±0.4 | 7.9±1.9 |
| Baseline age, year | 48.5±7.0 | 49.2±7.1 | 49.8±7.1 | 50.3±7.1 | 51.1±7.0 |
| Baseline BMI, kg/m2 | 25.0±4.9 | 24.8±4.5 | 24.8±4.5 | 24.8±4.4 | 24.7±4.4 |
| Alcohol, g/day | 5.8±11.1 | 5.8±10.4 | 5.9±10.1 | 5.8±9.7 | 5.6±9.3 |
| Modified Alternate Healthy Eating Index † | 33.2±8.0 | 33.7±8.1 | 34.5±8.2 | 35.3±8.4 | 36.9±8.6 |
| Moderate/vigorous physical activity, h/wk | 2.3±1.9 | 2.5±2.0 | 2.8±2.0 | 3.0±2.1 | 3.5±2.4 |
| Current smoking, % | 17.9 | 13.2 | 11.3 | 9.3 | 8.1 |
| Premenopausal, % | 11.8 | 12.2 | 12.0 | 11.8 | 11.6 |
| Current menopausal hormone use, % | 25.2 | 26.4 | 27.5 | 28.1 | 28.3 |
| Multivitamin use, % | 51.7 | 55.0 | 56.2 | 57.7 | 58.8 |
| Aspirin use, % | 50.1 | 51.7 | 52.3 | 52.1 | 51.7 |
| Family history, % | |||||
| Myocardial infarction | 9.6 | 9.6 | 9.5 | 9.3 | 9.6 |
| Diabetes | 28.6 | 28.7 | 28.7 | 28.7 | 29.4 |
| Cancer | 13.6 | 14.0 | 14.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 |
| Baseline history, % | |||||
| Hypercholesterolemia | 8.9 | 7.8 | 7.0 | 7.1 | 7.7 |
| Hypertension | 24.2 | 20.4 | 18.1 | 17.6 | 18.1 |
| Health Professionals Follow-Up Study | |||||
| Person-years | 206434 | 206624 | 206764 | 206971 | 206214 |
| Intake level, servings/day | 1.9±0.5 | 3.2±0.3 | 4.2±0.3 | 5.4±0.4 | 8.4±2.4 |
| Baseline age, year | 50.1±8.7 | 51.0±8.9 | 51.7±9.1 | 52.4±9.2 | 53.4±9.4 |
| Baseline BMI, kg/m2 | 25.6±3.3 | 25.5±3.2 | 25.4±3.2 | 25.3±3.1 | 25.4±3.5 |
| Alcohol, g/day | 12.1±16.7 | 12±15.7 | 11.5±15.1 | 11.1±14.2 | 10.4±13.8 |
| Modified Alternate Healthy Eating Index | 32.1±7.7 | 33.8±7.6 | 34.7±7.6 | 36.1±7.7 | 37.7±7.5 |
| Moderate/vigorous physical activity, h/wk | 2.2±3.2 | 2.7±3.6 | 3.1±4.0 | 3.6±4.3 | 4.4±4.9 |
| Current smoking, % | 10.3 | 7.3 | 5.8 | 4.4 | 3.9 |
| Multivitamin use, % | 47.7 | 49.4 | 51.3 | 52.4 | 53.1 |
| Aspirin use, % | 53.1 | 54.4 | 54.4 | 53.7 | 51.2 |
| Family history, % | |||||
| Myocardial infarction | 31.0 | 31.3 | 31.3 | 31.6 | 33.3 |
| Diabetes | 18.9 | 20.5 | 20.7 | 20.4 | 20.5 |
| Cancer | 34.2 | 33.9 | 35.7 | 34.9 | 34.9 |
| Baseline history, % | |||||
| Hypercholesterolemia | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.6 | 9.9 | 11.6 |
| Hypertension | 18.9 | 18.3 | 17.0 | 16.4 | 18.2 |
*
Values are means ± standard deviations for continuous variables and percentages for categorical variables. All variables except age were age-standardized.
†
The modified Alternate Healthy Eating Index included eight component scores for whole grains, nuts and legumes, long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fats, total polyunsaturated fats, sugar-sweetened beverage and juices, red/processed meat, trans fat and sodium.