Table 1.
Baseline characteristics according to frequency of walnut consumption.
| Never or Almost Never | Less Than Once per Week | Once per Week | Two to Four Times per Week | Five or More Times per Week | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nurses’ Health Study | (n = 51,013) | (n = 12,398) | (n = 2525) | (n = 806) | (n = 272) |
| Age, years | 63.8 (7.1) | 62.9 (6.7) | 63.6 (6.9) | 65.0 (6.8) | 64.8 (6.7) |
| BMI | 26.7 (5.3) | 26.5 (5.2) | 26.2 (4.9) | 25.9 (5.2) | 25.0 (5.1) |
| AHEI score | 46.0 (9.1) | 47.7 (8.8) | 49.8 (8.9) | 53.5 (9.7) | 57.4 (9.6) |
| Physical activity, MET h/wk |
16.9 (21.3) | 19.1 (21.6) | 20.5 (22.9) | 22.7 (25.5) | 23.1 (24.4) |
| Alcohol intake, g | 5.0 (9.2) | 5.1 (8.8) | 5.1 (8.2) | 4.4 (7.8) | 4.7 (9.1) |
| Smoking status | |||||
| Past smoker,% | 45.0 | 43.0 | 43.4 | 38.8 | 46.8 |
| Current smoker, % | 11.2 | 8.3 | 6.6 | 6.7 | 2.6 |
| White, % | 97.5 | 97.9 | 98.0 | 95.4 | 97.7 |
| Multivitamin use, % | 60.4 | 62.3 | 63.7 | 67.2 | 74.6 |
| Aspirin use, % | 50.2 | 52.8 | 53.1 | 51.2 | 50.4 |
| Family history of diabetes, % | 28.5 | 28.4 | 29.1 | 27.8 | 31.4 |
| Family history of cancer, % | 12.8 | 12.8 | 14.0 | 11.0 | 13.7 |
| Family history of myocardial infarction, % | 24.9 | 24.7 | 23.5 | 23.1 | 23.2 |
| Family history of Hypercholesterolemia, % | 34.1 | 33.3 | 34.9 | 34.3 | 36.7 |
| Family history of Diabetes, % | 6.8 | 5.7 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 8.0 |
| Family history of Hypertension, % | 31.6 | 30.4 | 27.6 | 27.0 | 23.0 |
|
Health Professionals
Follow-Up Study |
(n = 20,000) | (n = 4657) | (n = 1068) | (n = 387) | (n = 214) |
| Age, years | 63.2 (8.9) | 63.6 (8.8) | 64.0 (8.5) | 65.0 (8.9) | 65.7 (8.4) |
| BMI | 26.1 (3.6) | 26.1 (3.6) | 25.8 (3.3) | 25.3 (3.2) | 25.4 (3.2) |
| AHEI score | 45.1 (9.7) | 47.2 (9.3) | 48.9 (9.4) | 53.5 (10) | 56.4 (10.4) |
| Physical activity | 31.4 (30.3) | 36.2 (33.1) | 36.6 (33.8) | 39.5 (33.7) | 47.4 (43.1) |
| Alcohol intake, g | 11.2 (14.3) | 10.9 (13.2) | 10.9 (14.8) | 9.7 (12.6) | 9.7 (12.1) |
| Smoking status | |||||
| Past smoker,% | 51.1 | 48.4 | 47.3 | 46.4 | 47.0 |
| Current smoker, % | 4.9 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.1 |
| White, % | 91.7 | 92.1 | 92.4 | 90.9 | 89.6 |
| Multivitamin use, % | 48.2 | 50.2 | 52.6 | 55.1 | 54.3 |
| Aspirin use, % | 65.0 | 66.0 | 63.8 | 64.3 | 60.3 |
| Family history of diabetes, % | 22.6 | 21.9 | 22.8 | 20.9 | 24.6 |
| Family history of cancer, % | 37.5 | 38.8 | 39.2 | 37.5 | 33.8 |
| Family history of myocardial infarction, % | 32.4 | 30.9 | 31.1 | 30.7 | 29.3 |
| Family history of hypercholesterolemia, % | 28.7 | 27.0 | 27.5 | 30.5 | 27.5 |
| Family history of diabetes, % | 6.0 | 5.3 | 6.8 | 6.1 | 4.5 |
| Family history of hypertension, % | 26.6 | 24.6 | 24.7 | 25.4 | 22.9 |
Values are means (SD). All variables except age are age-standardized. Percentages for categorical variables are standardized to the age distribution of the study population.