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Table 3 Health behaviors and anthropometric characteristics for participants of the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study.

From: The Boston Puerto Rican Health Study, a longitudinal cohort study on health disparities in Puerto Rican adults: challenges and opportunities

Characteristic (%)

 

Men

Women

  

Ages 45-59

Ages 60-75

Ages 45-59

Ages 60-75

Abdominal obesitya

43.0*

45.6*

79.7

84.1

BMIb

Overweight

46.6*

47.5*

30.4***

30.4

 

Obesity (Class I and II)

49.5

49.2

51.2

57.1

 

Extreme Obesity (Class III)

3.9

3.4

18.5

12.6

Physical activity

Sedentary

36.7*

46.9*

39.8***

61.4

 

Light activity

52.2

44.9

56.3

37.8

 

Moderate & vigorous activity

11.2

8.2

3.9

0.8

Current smokerc

 

38.3*;**

27.6*

25.7**

12.8

Non-drinker

 

48.2*

52.5*

59.0***

75.9

Current moderate drinkerd

 

35.5

36.4

36.7

22.2

Current heavy drinkerd

 

16.3

11.2

4.3

1.9

Multivitamin use

 

18.5

21.2

18.2

20.4

  1. *P < 0.05; between sex, within age category
  2. **P < 0.05; between age categories, within sex
  3. ***P < 0.05; overall between age categories, within sex
  4. a Waist circumference > 102 cm in men; > 88 cm in women
  5. b Defined as weight (kg)/height (m)2; overweight = 25-29.9, obesity class I and II = 30-39.9, and extreme obesity (class III) ≥ 40.
  6. c Significant differences determined for current versus past and never
  7. d Moderate drinker defined as ≤ 1 drink/day in females or ≤ 2 drinks/day in males. Heavy drinker defined as > 6 drinks during one day of drinking, or > 1 drink/day in females or > 2 drinks/day in males.
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