TABLE 2.

The association between dietary zinc intake and telomere length among all participants and subgroups.

Participants	N	Telomere length (bp)	Models	Percentage change (%) and 95% CI	P-value	aP for interaction
All participants	3,793	5509.5 ± 494.9	Model 1	0.69 (0.31, 1.07)	0.001
			Model 2	0.62 (0.18, 1.06)	0.010
			Model 3	0.64 (0.17, 1.10)	0.012
			Model 4	0.52 (−0.01, 1.06)	0.065
Sex subgroup						0.054
Female	1,884	5545.4 ± 493.6	Model 1	1.11 (0.55, 1.68)	0.001
			Model 2	1.10 (0.52, 1.68)	0.001
			Model 3	1.11 (0.48, 1.75)	0.002
			Model 4	0.82 (0.06, 1.58)	0.042
Male	1,909	5474.1 ± 493.8	Model 1	0.56 (0.05, 1.08)	0.041
			Model 2	0.19 (−0.32, 0.69)	0.472
			Model 3	0.20 (−0.31, 0.72)	0.440
			Model 4	0.24 (−0.32, 0.81)	0.402
BMI subgroup						0.680
Obese (≥30 kg/m2)	1,229	5530.7 ± 488.6	Model 1	0.67 (0.15, 1.20)	0.017
			Model 2	0.92 (0.34, 1.51)	0.004
			Model 3	0.88 (0.26, 1.50)	0.009
			Model 4	0.75 (−0.12, 1.63)	0.100
Non-obese (<30 kg/m2)	2,419	5502.7 ± 493.5	Model 1	0.73 (0.25, 1.22)	0.006
			Model 2	0.52 (−0.03, 1.08)	0.074
			Model 3	0.51 (−0.08, 1.09)	0.099
			Model 4	0.40 (−0.18, 0.99)	0.186
Energy subgroup						0.598
Low energy intake (<1,726 kcal)	1,896	5490.7 ± 494.9	Model 1	0.68 (0.23, 1.13)	0.006
			Model 2	0.94 (0.46, 1.42)	0.001
			Model 3	0.99 (0.51, 1.46)	0.000
			Model 4	0.79 (0.19, 1.40)	0.015
High energy intake (≥1,726 kcal)	1,897	5528.4 ± 494.4	Model 1	0.46 (−0.17, 1.08)	0.164
			Model 2	0.42 (−0.26, 1.10)	0.234
			Model 3	0.42 (−0.27, 1.10)	0.276
			Model 4	0.37 (−0.35, 1.10)	0.326

CI, confidence interval; BMI, body mass index; Model 1 was a crude model, including zinc intake; Model 2 was further adjusted for age, sex, race, educational levels, and household income; Model 3 was additionally adjusted for cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, BMI, diabetes, and hypertension; Model 4 was further adjusted for overall energy intake.

^aP-value for the interaction of Model 4.