Table 1 Demographic, clinical, lifestyle and genetic characteristics of the study participants at baseline

Men/women, n

3008/4044

1382/2240

1626/1804

<0.001

Age (years)

66.9

(6.2)

66.6

(6.1)

67.3

(6.2)

<0.001

Weight (kg)

76.8

(11.9)

76.6

(11.7)

76.9

(12.2)

0.378

BMI (kg/m²)

29.9

(3.8)

30.0

(3.7)

29.9

(4.0)

0.066

Waist circumference (cm)

100.4

(10.6)

99.7

(10.6)

101.2

(10.5)

<0.001

Adherence to the Mediterranean diet

8.7

(1.9)

8.7

(2.1)

8.5

(1.9)

0.003

Energy intake (kcal/d)

2276

(607)

2322

(604)

2228

(607)

<0.001

Total fat (g/d)

98.7

(30.4)

99.1

(29.6)

98.6

(31.3)

0.534

Saturated fat (g/d)

25.4

(9.2)

25.2

(9.0)

25.5

(9.4)

0.155

MUFA (g/d)

48.8

(16.1)

49.2

(15.5)

48.6

(16.6)

0.680

PUFA (g/d)

15.9

(7.0)

15.8

(7.2)

15.9

(7.2)

0.816

Carbohydrates (g/d)

239

(81)

250

(82)

229

(78)

<0.001

Fiber (g/d)

25.7

(9.2)

25.9

(9.3)

25.4

(9.1)

0.063

Alcohol consumption (g/d)

8.4

(14.1)

9.1

(14.7)

7.6

(13.4)

<0.001

Folic acid (microg/d)

406

(127)

407

(125)

406

(129)

0.777

Physical activity* (kcal/d)

230

(239)

225

(226)

237

(253)

0.028

Fasting glucose (mg/dL)**

122.2

(41.0)

98.2

(16.4)

147.3

(45.0)

<0.001

Current smokers (%)

14.1

16.0

12.1

0.001

Obesity (%)

46.7

47.0

46.4

0.595

Genotypes (%)

FTO rs9939609

TT

33.0

33.9

32.1

0.227

TA

48.7

48.3

49.1

AA

18.3

17.8

18.8

MC4R rs17782313***

TT

61.8

61.9

61.9

0.965

TC

33.5

33.4

33.4

CC

4.7

4.7

4.7