Table 2.
Characteristics of US Adults Aged ≥20 Years by Plant- and Animal-Based Diet Quality Scores, NHANES 1999-2014
| Total Adult Population (n=36,825) | Comprehensive Diet Quality Index (cDQI) |
Plant-based Diet Quality Index (pDQI) |
Animal-based Diet Quality Index (aDQI) |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 (Male: <37.0; Female: <40.8) (n=9205) | Q4 (Male: ≥45.1; Female: ≥49.5 (n=9206) | P-value1 | Q1 (Male: <22.4; Female: <24.3) (n=9205) | Q4 (Male: ≥29.7; Female: ≥32.2) (n=9206) | P-value | Q1 (Male: <13.1; Female :<15.0) (n=9205) | Q4 (Male: ≥17.1; Female: ≥18.9 (n=9206) | P-value1 | ||
| Age, years 2 | 47.1 (0.2) | 40.6 (0.2) | 53.5 (0.3) | <0.001 | 36.9 (0.2) | 56.3 (0.3) | <0.001 | 52.3 (0.3) | 43.0 (0.3) | <0.001 |
| Sex, 3 | 0.4 | 0.03 | 0.09 | |||||||
| Male | 18443 (49.1) | 4610 (50.1) | 4611 (48.3) | 4610 (50.7) | 4611 (47.7) | 4610 (48.3) | 4611 (49.5) | |||
| Female | 18382 (50.9) | 4595 (49.9) | 4595 (51.7) | 4595 (49.3) | 4595 (52.3) | 4595 (51.7) | 4595 (50.5) | |||
| Race/ethnicity, 3 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | |||||||
| Non-Hispanic White | 17494 (70.2) | 3368 (59.3) | 5385 (79.3) | 3309 (58.0) | 5569 (81.7) | 4360 (71.4) | 4238 (68.1) | |||
| Non-Hispanic Black | 7614 (11.1) | 2409 (16.7) | 1357 (6.0) | 2757 (18.9) | 1163 (5.0) | 1434 (8.7) | 2299 (12.9) | |||
| Hispanic | 9278 (12.9) | 3123 (20.3) | 1408 (6.5) | 2695 (18.0) | 1624 (6.8) | 3165 (17.3) | 1592 (9.2) | |||
| Other | 2439 (5.8) | 305 (3.7) | 1056 (8.1) | 444 (5.1) | 850 (6.5) | 246 (2.7) | 1077 (9.7) | |||
| Education, 3 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | |||||||
| Grades 0-12 | 10362 (18.4) | 3188 (24.9) | 1706 (11.1) | 2885 (22.5) | 1896 (11.9) | 3160 (22.7) | 1976 (14.3) | |||
| Some college | 8613 (24.2) | 2448 (28.8) | 1827 (19.0) | 2398 (28.2) | 1879 (20.5) | 2314 (27.5) | 1991 (21.3) | |||
| College graduate and above | 17803 (57.5) | 3553 (46.3) | 5663 (69.9) | 3909 (49.3) | 5423 (67.6) | 3712 (49.7) | 5233 (64.3) | |||
| Poverty to income ratio (PIR), 3,4 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.01 | |||||||
| < 1.85 | 14729 (30.2) | 4549 (41.0) | 2597 (19.0) | 4535 (41.8) | 2636 (19.0) | 3918 (31.5) | 3413 (28.3) | |||
| ≥ 1.85 | 19175 (63.3) | 3952 (52.4) | 5876 (74.6) | 3993 (52.1) | 5825 (74.4) | 4554 (61.9) | 5089 (65.5) | |||
| Missing | 2921 (6.5) | 704 (6.6) | 733 (6.4) | 677 (6.1) | 745 (6.6) | 733 (6.6) | 704 (6.3) | |||
| Smoking, 3,5 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | |||||||
| Nonsmokers | 19440 (52.2) | 4871 (51.9) | 4977 (53.4) | 5107 (54.4) | 4702 (50.7) | 4359 (47.3) | 5450 (57.7) | |||
| Former smokers | 9315 (24.9) | 1690 (17.1) | 3028 (33.1) | 1405 (14.5) | 3320 (36.1) | 2710 (28.7) | 1909 (21.3) | |||
| Current smokers | ||||||||||
| <15 cigarettes/day | 4701 (12.0) | 1615 (16.8) | 686 (7.3) | 1705 (17.6) | 656 (6.8) | 1188 (11.6) | 1167 (12.2) | |||
| 15-24.9 cigarettes/day | 2401 (7.6) | 754 (10.1) | 365 (4.0) | 726 (9.7) | 362 (4.2) | 663 (8.6) | 513 (6.5) | |||
| ≥25 cigarettes /day | 879 (3.2) | 253 (4.0) | 135 (2.1) | 238 (3.7) | 147 (2.1) | 261 (3.7) | 147 (2.1) | |||
| Alcohol,3,6 drink/week, | 0.02 | 0.05 | <0.001 | |||||||
| Nondrinkers | 13957 (34.0) | 3373 (35.2) | 3478 (32.0) | 3249 (33.9) | 3562 (32.6) | 3650 (36.1) | 3301 (32.3) | |||
| Moderate drinker | 18130 (57.0) | 4551 (56.1) | 4688 (59.6) | 4652 (57.7) | 4611 (58.4) | 4366 (54.4) | 4765 (60.1) | |||
| Heavy drinker | 2515 (8.9) | 683 (8.7) | 528 (8.4) | 667 (8.5) | 579 (9.0) | 693 (9.4) | 532 (7.6) | |||
| Physical activity, 2,7 | ||||||||||
| MET-hours/week, | 17.2 (0.4) | 16.4 (0.6) | 18.4 (0.5) | <0.001 | 17.7(0.7) | 17.6(0.5) | 0.006 | 14.2 (0.6) | 19.0 (0.5) | <0.001 |
| BMI, kg/m2, | 28.5 (0.1) | 28.8 (0.1) | 28.2 (0.1) | <0.001 | 28.6(0.1) | 28.4(0.1) | 0.12 | 29.2 (0.1) | 28.1 (0.1) | <0.001 |
| Weight status, 3,8 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | |||||||
| BMI < 18.5 kg/m2 | 571(1.7) | 178 (2.2) | 112 (1.3) | 206 (2.5) | 100 (1.1) | 112 (1.2) | 176 (2.2) | |||
| BMI = 18.5-25 kg/m2 | 10377(30.6) | 2575 (31.3) | 2706 (31.2) | 2742 (32.8) | 2551 (29.7) | 2312 (27.2) | 2843 (33.2) | |||
| BMI = 25-29.9 kg/m2 | 12422 (33.7) | 2889 (30.0) | 3298 (36.4) | 2843 (29.8) | 3326 (36.3) | 3089 (32.8) | 3052 (33.5) | |||
| BMI ≥30 kg/m2f | 12869 (34.0) | 3438 (36.6) | 2947 (31.2) | 3302 (35.0) | 3085 (32.9) | 3544 (38.8) | 3008 (31.1) | |||
| Co-morbidities, 3 | ||||||||||
| Cancer | 3408 (9.3) | 537 (5.9) | 1224 (13.2) | <0.001 | 414 (4.3) | 1384 (15.1) | <0.001 | 1024 (11.9) | 683 (7.2) | <0.001 |
| Congestive heart failure | 1162 (2.4) | 213 (1.9) | 315 (2.4) | 0.2 | 165 (1.3) | 390 (3.0) | <0.001 | 388 (3.5) | 178 (1.3) | <0.001 |
| Coronary heart disease | 1546 (3.4) | 238 (2.3) | 534 (4.6) | <0.001 | 160 (1.5) | 621 (5.4) | <0.001 | 499 (4.6) | 259 (2.5) | <0.001 |
| Myocardial infarction | 1603 (3.5) | 283 (2.7) | 469 (4.0) | 0.002 | 199 (1.8) | 547 (4.8) | <0.001 | 510 (4.6) | 248 (2.3) | <0.001 |
| Stroke | 1360 (2.7) | 278 (2.5) | 340 (2.7) | 0.44 | 232 (2.0) | 409 (3.2) | <0.001 | 465 (4.0) | 246 (2.0) | <0.001 |
| High Cholesterol | 11759 (31.9) | 2158 (23.4) | 3857 (41.1) | <0.001 | 1814 (30.1) | 4111 (47.7) | <0.001 | 3356 (38.2) | 2569 (27.3) | <0.001 |
| Hypertension | 12832 (30.8) | 2517 (24.6) | 3748 (35.5) | <0.001 | 2161 (21.3) | 4092 (39.2) | <0.001 | 3743 (37.7) | 2706 (26.3) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes | 4422 (8.6) | 700 (5.4) | 1550 (12.2) | <0.001 | 492 (4.0) | 1787 (13.9) | <0.001 | 1439 (11.8) | 851 (6.7) | <0.001 |
Abbreviations: NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; cDQI, comprehensive Diet Quality Index; pDQI, plant-based Diet Quality Index; aDQI, animal-based Diet Quality Index; Q, quartile; PIR, poverty-to-income ratio; MET: metabolic equivalents; BMI, body mass index.
Analysis of variance was used to assess the difference in the distribution of continuous characteristic variables and chi-square test was used to assess the difference in the distribution of categorical variables by quartiles of cDQI, pDQI, and aDQI scores.
Values are mean (SD).
Values are n (%).
Poverty-to-income ratio (PIR) represents ratio of family income to the federal poverty threshold, adjusting for household size. For reference, the federal poverty threshold in 2014 for a family of 4 was $23,850 per year. A family of 4 earning $44,123 per year would have a ratio of 1.85. A lower ratio indicates a lower level of income.
Smokers were defined as individuals who reported smoking at least 100 cigarettes during their lifetime, with former smokers defined as not currently smoking and current smokers defined as currently smoking.
Participants who drank a minimum of 12 drinks in any given year were classed as drinkers with moderate drinkers defined as those who consumed <1 drink/day for women and <2 drinks/day for men and heavy drinkers being defined as those who consumed ≥1 drink/day for women and ≥2 drinks/day for men.
MET-hours of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week was by summarizing minutes of reported activity with the metabolic equivalent of physical activities with different intensities.
BMI was calculated by dividing weight in kilograms (kg) by height in meters squared (m2).