Table 1.

Study population characteristics

Characteristics		Omnivores	Vegetarians	P value	Vegans	P value
Sex	Females	24	24	–	24	–
	Males	16	16		16
Age (years)	Mean±SD	40.5±13.2	40.6±11.7	0.95	39.1±11.6	0.76
	Range	20.6–64.1	21.1–67.4		18.5–60.6
Years of vegetarian or vegan diet	Mean±SD	–	9.7±9.0	–	4.8±2.5	–
	Range	–	0.7–34.5		0.6–13.0
BMI (kg/m2)		23.6±3.9	21.9±2.6	0.05	21.8±2.9	0.03
BMI classes	Underweight (≤18.5)	2	2		5
	Normal weight (18.5–24.9)	26	33	0.13	30	0.13
	Overweight (25–29.9)	9	4		5
	Obese (≥30.0)	3	0		0
	Missing	–	1		–
Waist circumference (cm)		83.8±11.6	78.1±8.6	0.03	78.9±8.8	0.05
Highest level of education attained (n (%))	Primary or secondary school	15 (37.5)	14 (35.0)	1.00	22 (55.0)	0.18
	University or higher	25 (62.5)	26 (65.0)		18 (45.0)
Physical Activity Total	Active	2	4		0
	Moderately active	16	6	0.02	18	0.09
	Moderately inactive	7	18		14
	Inactive	15	12		8
Smoking habit	Non-smoker	21	23		26
	Former smoker	10	15	0.06	10	0.29
	Current smoker	9	2		4

For continuous variables, the p value was computed using the Kruskal-Wallis method while χ² test was used for analysing categorical variables.

Statistically significant values are in bold.

BMI, body mass index.