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Table 1 Characteristics of the study population

From: Consumption of sweet foods and mammographic breast density: a cross-sectional study

 

Total n = 1555

Premenopausal n = 776*

Postmenopausal n = 779**

Age (years), mean (SD)

54.1 (9.4)

46.7 (4.6)

61.4 (6.8)

Age at 1st full-term pregnancy (years), mean (SD)a

25.7 (4.2)

26.3 (4.2)

25.2 (4.1)

Body mass index (kg/m2), mean (SD)

26.1 (4.7)

25.2 (4.5)

27.1 (4.7)

Waist-to-hip ratio, mean (SD)

0.8 (0.1)

0.8 (0.1)

0.8 (0.1)

Age at menarche (years), mean (SD)

12.7 (1.6)

12.8 (1.6)

12.7 (1.6)

Alcohol intake (drinks/week), mean (SD)

3.0 (4.1)

3.4 (3.8)

2.5 (4.4)

Physical activity (MET-h/week), mean (SD)

26.3 (22.8)

27.0 (22.3)

25.7 (23.4)

Caloric intake (kcal/day), mean (SD)

1941.1 (585.8)

1911.5 (521.4)

1970.6 (642.5)

Percent density (%), mean (SD)

30.2 (24.0)

42.0 (24.4)

18.5 (16.8)

Absolute density (cm2), mean (SD)

34.9 (27.7)

46.5 (28.7)

23.3 (21.0)

Sugar-sweetened beveragesb (servings/week), mean (SD)

2.0 (4.0)

2.1 (4.4)

1.9 (3.5)

Sweet foodsc (servings/week), mean (SD)

9.8 (9.7)

7.7 (7.6)

11.8 (11.0)

Spoonsful of sugar addedd (servings/week), mean (SD)

7.6 (11.0)

6.9 (11.0)

8.2 (10.9)

Total of all sweet items (servings/week), mean (SD)

19.3 (17.4)

16.8 (15.3)

21.9 (18.8)

Parity (yes), n (%)

1167 (75.1)

584 (75.3)

583 (74.8)

Breastfeeding (yes), n (%)a

532 (45.6)

363 (62.2)

169 (29.0)

Use of hormonal therapy (yes), n (%)

347 (22.4)

45 (5.8)

302 (39.1)

Use of oral contraceptive (yes), n (%)

1128 (72.7)

712 (91.9)

416 (53.5)

Family history of breast cancer (yes), n (%)

521 (33.5)

284 (36.6)

237 (30.4)

Breast biopsy (yes), n (%)

238 (15.3)

112 (14.4)

126 (16.2)

Education (highest degree completed), n (%)

   

  Primary or less

255 (16.4)

51 (6.6)

204 (26.2)

  Secondary

510 (32.8)

242 (31.2)

268 (34.4)

  College

304 (19.6)

206 (26.6)

98 (12.6)

  University

486 (31.3)

277 (35.7)

209 (26.8)

Smoking status, n (%)

   

  Nonsmoker

811 (52.2)

354 (45.6)

457 (58.7)

  Ex-smoker

524 (33.7)

306 (39.4)

218 (28.0)

  Current smoker

220 (14.1)

116 (15.0)

104 (13.4)

  1. *Missing values for sweet foods (n = 2), sugar-sweetened beverages (n = 5) and total of all sweets (n = 7).
  2. **Missing values for sweet foods (n = 11), sugar-sweetened beverages (n = 2), spoonsful of sugar added (n = 1) and total of all sweets (n = 14).
  3. aAmong parous women.
  4. bIncluding cola with sugar, cola with sugar but caffeine free, other carbonated beverage with sugar and sweet fruits juice.
  5. cIncluding ice cream, chocolate, candy with chocolate, candy, homemade cookie, commercial cookie, brownie, donut, homemade cake, commercial cake, homemade pie, commercial pie, other homemade pastries and other commercial pastries.
  6. dIncluding teaspoons of sugar added to beverages and foods and tablespoons of jam, honey and syrup.
  7. Abbreviations: SD standard deviation, MET-h /wk Metabolic equivalent hours per week.