Table 1.
Baseline* Characteristics of Participants According to Categories of Avocado Intake
| Health Professionals Follow‐up Study | Nurses’ Health Study | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Never or <1 per month n=29 483 |
1–3 per month n=9323 |
1 per week n=1991 |
≥2 per week n=904 |
Never or <1 per month n=57 401 |
1–3 per month n=8669 |
1 per week n=1955 |
≥2 per week n=761 |
|
| Avocado, g/d | 0.0±0.0 | 5.0±0.0 | 10.7±0.0 | 38.8±18.8 | 0.0±0.0 | 5.0±0.0 | 10.7±0.0 | 37.6±13.3 |
| Age, y | 52.8±9.4 | 52.7±9.5 | 53.4±9.8 | 55.8±10.0 | 52.3±7.1 | 53.2±7.2 | 53.8±6.8 | 54.7±6.9 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 25.6±3.3 | 25.3±3.3 | 25.1±3.4 | 25.0±3.4 | 25.5±4.9 | 24.4±4.3 | 24.2±4.3 | 24.6±4.7 |
| Physical activity, MET‐h/wk | 20.5±28.4 | 22.4±30.5 | 23.7±32.1 | 24.3±27.0 | 13.6±20.2 | 16.1±21.2 | 16.8±19.9 | 18.2±28.5 |
| Family history of myocardial infarction (%) | 32.6 | 29.8 | 28.7 | 30.5 | 39.0 | 37.2 | 37.1 | 36.7 |
| Race, White | 95.2 | 94.4 | 95.0 | 93.2 | 98.1 | 96.4 | 96.9 | 96.4 |
| Ancestry (%) | ||||||||
|
Southern European or Mediterranean |
24.1 | 21.9 | 23.6 | 24.5 | 16.9 | 15.5 | 14.7 | 16.0 |
|
Other Caucasian or Scandinavian |
67.1 | 68.5 | 67.8 | 65.3 | 60.7 | 65.9 | 65.5 | 60.7 |
|
All other ancestry including Hispanic |
8.8 | 9.6 | 8.6 | 10.2 | 22.3 | 18.6 | 19.7 | 23.4 |
| Hispanic only | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| Current smoker (%) | 10.0 | 9.7 | 7.7 | 6.8 | 21.3 | 19.7 | 19.5 | 18.8 |
| Hypertension (%) | 22.3 | 20.6 | 19.1 | 22.1 | 16.0 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 16.0 |
| Hypercholesterolemia (%) | 10.7 | 10.0 | 9.0 | 9.9 | 7.5 | 7.6 | 6.9 | 6.7 |
| Multivitamin supplement use (%) | 40.3 | 44.4 | 47.8 | 46.9 | 41.6 | 47.1 | 47.6 | 43.7 |
| Aspirin use (%) | 26.7 | 27.0 | 24.5 | 23.9 | 67.8 | 68.4 | 66.6 | 64.4 |
| Current menopausal hormone use (%) | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | 13.3 | 20.5 | 22.2 | 20.7 |
| Total energy intake, kcal/d | 1970±617 | 2031±615 | 2143±634 | 2236±668 | 1750±524 | 1819±531 | 1915±536 | 1997±553 |
| Alcohol, g/d | 10.6±15.1 | 13.3±16.4 | 14.5±16.5 | 13±15.8 | 5.7±10.2 | 8.7±12.5 | 8.8±12.3 | 8.9±14.1 |
| Red and processed meat, servings/d | 1.2±0.9 | 1.1±0.8 | 1.1±0.9 | 1.1±0.9 | 1.0±0.7 | 1.0±0.7 | 1.0±0.7 | 1.0±0.7 |
| Processed meat, servings/d | 0.4±0.4 | 0.4±0.4 | 0.3±0.4 | 0.3±0.4 | 0.3±0.3 | 0.3±0.3 | 0.3±0.3 | 0.3±0.3 |
| Eggs, servings/d | 0.3±0.4 | 0.4±0.4 | 0.4±0.4 | 0.4±0.5 | 0.3±0.3 | 0.3±0.3 | 0.3±0.3 | 0.3±0.3 |
| Nuts, servings/d | 0.5±0.6 | 0.5±0.6 | 0.6±0.7 | 0.7±0.7 | 0.1±0.3 | 0.2±0.3 | 0.2±0.3 | 0.3±0.4 |
| Whole grains, servings/d | 1.6±1.5 | 1.6±1.4 | 1.7±1.4 | 1.9±1.6 | 1.5±1.3 | 1.7±1.4 | 1.8±1.4 | 1.8±1.3 |
| Non–whole grain breads, servings/d | 0.8±1.0 | 0.6±0.8 | 0.6±0.8 | 0.6±0.8 | 0.8±0.9 | 0.6±0.7 | 0.6±0.7 | 0.6±0.7 |
| Tortilla, servings/d | 0.1±0.1 | 0.1±0.2 | 0.1±0.2 | 0.1±0.2 | 0.0±0.1 | 0.1±0.2 | 0.1±0.2 | 0.1±0.2 |
| Chips and crackers, servings/d | 0.4±0.6 | 0.4±0.5 | 0.4±0.5 | 0.4±0.5 | 0.4±0.7 | 0.4±0.6 | 0.4±0.5 | 0.4±0.6 |
| Fruits, servings/d | 2.2±1.6 | 2.3±1.6 | 2.7±1.7 | 3.1±2.4 | 2.4±1.5 | 2.5±1.6 | 2.9±1.8 | 3.1±2.0 |
| Vegetables, servings/d | 2.9±1.6 | 3.3±1.8 | 3.6±1.8 | 4.1±2.1 | 2.7±1.1 | 3.0±1.2 | 3.2±1.2 | 3.3±1.2 |
| Soda † , servings/d | 0.8±1.1 | 0.7±0.9 | 0.7±0.9 | 0.7±0.9 | 0.7±0.9 | 0.6±0.8 | 0.6±0.9 | 0.6±0.8 |
| Dairy foods, g/d | 14.3±9.2 | 14.6±9.1 | 15.5±9.9 | 15.8±10.2 | 15.0±8.6 | 15.1±8.7 | 15.7±8.5 | 16.6±10.2 |
| Margarine, g/d | 10.7±15.1 | 10.0±14.1 | 9.9±14.2 | 10.2±15.2 | 15.1±17.4 | 13.8±16.4 | 14.3±16.5 | 12.7±15.7 |
| Butter, g/d | 1.7±3.7 | 2.0±3.8 | 2.3±4.2 | 2.2±3.9 | 1.8±3.8 | 2.0±3.8 | 2.0±3.7 | 2.8±4.8 |
| Mayonnaise, g/d | 4.8±6.7 | 5.4±6.6 | 5.8±6.7 | 6.0±8.2 | 5.5±6.3 | 6.0±6.2 | 6.8±7.0 | 6.6±7.7 |
| Yogurt ‡ , g/d | 19.1±51.3 | 22.7±46.9 | 28.2±54.2 | 36.1±89.7 | 27.8±58.0 | 35.2±59.9 | 39.2±60.7 | 39.5±66.6 |
| Total cheese, g/d | 20.8±22.1 | 22.7±22.8 | 25.1±24.2 | 28.4±36.0 | 25.9±24.5 | 28.0±24.9 | 29.2±25.3 | 29.2±25.3 |
| AHEI | 46.7±11.2 | 49.5±10.8 | 51.3±10.8 | 53.8±10.5 | 46.7±11.0 | 50.5±10.9 | 51.6±10.9 | 53.2±11.1 |
Values are mean±SD or %, and are standardized to the age distribution of the study population. HPFS, n=41 701; NHS, n=68 786. AHEI indicates alternative healthy index; BMI, body mass index; and MET, metabolic equivalent task.
*
Baseline is 1986.
†
Includes sweetened and artificially sweetened soda.
‡
Includes plain, sweetened, and artificially sweetened yogurt.