Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the study population, NutriNet-Santé cohort, France, 2009–2021 (N = 101 056)
| Characteristics | All participants | Categories of nitrite intakes from food additivesa |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-consumers | Low consumers | High consumers | P trend | ||
| Number of participants | 101 056 (100.0) | 26 337 (26.1) | 37 360 (36.9) | 37 359 (36.9) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) age (years) | 42.26 (14.51) | 41.77 (14.6) | 44.00 (14.7) | 40.88 (14.1) | <0.001 |
| Women | 79 284 (78.5) | 20 894 (79.3) | 29 195 (78.1) | 29 195 (78.1) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) height (cm)b | 166.75 (8.1) | 166.71 (8.1) | 166.48 (8.1) | 167.04 (8.1) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) BMI (kg/m2)b | 23.69 (4.5) | 23.33 (4.5) | 23.56 (4.2) | 24.08 (4.8) | <0.001 |
| Family history of cancer (%)c | 17 083 (16.9) | 4202 (16.0) | 6876 (18.4) | 6005 (16.1) | <0.001 |
| IPAQ physical activity level (%): | <0.001 | ||||
| High | 28 631 (28.3) | 7849 (29.8) | 10 874 (29.1) | 9908 (26.5) | |
| Moderate | 37 337 (36.9) | 9591 (36.4) | 14067 (37.7) | 13 679 (36.6) | |
| Low | 20 988 (20.8) | 5145 (19.5) | 7513 (20.1) | 8330 (22.3) | |
| Missing | 14 100 (14.0) | 3752 (14.2) | 4906 (13.1) | 5442 (14.6) | |
| Education level (%): | <0.001 | ||||
| Primary | 2635 (2.6) | 730 (2.8) | 984 (2.6) | 921 (2.5) | |
| Secondary | 32 226 (31.9) | 8123 (30.8) | 11 913 (31.9) | 12 190 (32.6) | |
| Undergraduate | 27 397 (27.1) | 7021 (26.7) | 9923 (26.6) | 10 453 (28.0) | |
| Post-graduate | 32 495 (32.2) | 8889 (33.8) | 12125 (32.5) | 11 481 (30.7) | |
| Missing | 6303 (6.2) | 1574 (6.0) | 2415 (6.5) | 2314 (6.2) | |
| Smoking status: | <0.001 | ||||
| Current | 17 575 (17.4) | 4820 (18.3) | 5975 (16.0) | 6780 (18.1) | |
| Former | 32 538 (32.2) | 8424 (32.0) | 12 300 (32.9) | 11 814 (31.6) | |
| Never | 50 703 (50.2) | 12968 (49.2) | 19 030 (50.9) | 18 705 (50.1) | |
| Missing | 240 (0.2) | 125 (0.5) | 55 (0.1) | 60 (0.2) | |
| Oral contraceptiond | 22 281 (28.1) | 5335 (25.5) | 7698 (26.4) | 9248 (31.7) | <0.001 |
| Use of hormonal treatment for menopaused | 3388 (4.3) | 823 (3.9) | 1475 (5.1) | 1090 (3.7) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) number of biological childrend | 1.28 (1.24) | 1.16 (1.25) | 1.39 (1.24) | 1.26 (1.23) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) energy intake without alcohol (kcal/d) | 1900.60 (471.8) | 1828.33 (489.9) | 1885.07 (443.6) | 1967.09 (477.2) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) alcohol intake (g/d) | 7.81 (11.83) | 6.95 (11.69) | 7.94 (11.43) | 8.29 (12.28) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) sugar intake (g/d) | 92.29 (33.14) | 91.08 (36.00) | 92.66 (31.31) | 92.76 (32.80) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) fibre intake (g/d) | 19.46 (7.26) | 20.87 (8.93) | 19.36 (6.57) | 18.56 (6.38) | <0.001 |
| Proportion of ultra-processed food in the diet (%) | 35.12 (13.76) | 33.08 (15.00) | 33.92 (12.88) | 37.74 (13.27) | < 0.001 |
| Mean (SD) sodium intake (mg/d) | 2718.88 (891.7) | 2451.35 (902.3) | 2669.86 (807.2) | 2956.49 (903.3) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) heme iron intake (mg/d) | 1.21 (1.19) | 1.05 (1.36) | 1.21 (1.11) | 1.32 (1.13) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) total nitrate intake (mg/d) | 212.44 (112.2) | 226.76 (131.2) | 212.71 (105.1) | 202.07 (103.3) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) total nitrite intake (mg/d) | 5.61 (3.36) | 4.98 (3.43) | 5.40 (2.95) | 6.27 (3.56) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) nitrate intake from natural sources (mg/d) | 212.26 (112.3) | 226.64 (131.2) | 212.55 (105.1) | 201.83 (103.3) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) nitrite intake from natural sources (mg/d) | 5.35 (3.30) | 4.98 (3.40) | 5.30 (2.95) | 5.66 (3.40) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) nitrate intake from additives (mg/d) | 0.18 (0.40) | 0.12 (0.40) | 0.17 (0.38) | 0.24 (0.50) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) potassium nitrate (e252) intake (mg/d) | 0.18 (0.42) | 0.12 (0.40) | 0.16 (0.36) | 0.24 (0.48) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) nitrite intake from additives (mg/d) | 0.26 (0.64) | 0.00 (0.00) | 0.10 (0.05) | 0.61 (0.95) | <0.001 |
| Mean (SD) sodium nitrite (e250) intake (mg/d) | 0.23 (0.32) | 0.00 (0.00) | 0.10 (0.05) | 0.52 (0.37) | <0.001 |
Values are n (%) unless stated otherwise.
IPAQ, International Physical Activity Questionnaire; BMI, body mass index; 1 kcal = 4.18 kJ = 0.00418 MJ.
a
Categories of consumption were defined as: non-consumers, low consumers and high consumers, separated by the sex-specific median among consumers, i.e. 0.19 mg/d in women and 0.25 mg/d in men.
b
Height and BMI were missing for 789 participants.
c
Among first-degree relatives.
d
Among women.