Lifestyle Behaviours and Plasma Vitamin C and 𝜷-Carotene Levels from the ELAN Population (Liège, Belgium)

Table 1

Gender specific demographic, biometric, medical and dietary characteristics of the ELAN population. See text for description of social class.

Variable	Women	Men	𝑃 value
	𝑛=548	𝑛=349
Age (years)	50.1 ± 5.8	50.9 ± 6.0	.057
Smoking
No	402 (73)	262 (75)	.55
Yes	145 (27)	86 (25)
Height (m)	1.64 ± 0.07	1.77 ± 0.07	<.0001
Weight (kg)	67.2 ± 13.4	83.6 ± 13.3	<.0001
BMI (kg/m²)	25.0 ± 4.7	26.8 ± 3.8	<.0001
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	123 ± 14	128 ± 13	<.0001
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)	76 ± 8.8	79 ± 9.6	<.0001
Intestinal disorders
No	429 (79)	301 (86)	.0039
Yes	117 (21)	48 (14)
Physical activity
No	339 (62)	202 (58)	.19
Yes	205 (38)	147 (42)
Living environment
Rural	195 (36)	126 (36)	.69
Semi urban	152 (28)	104 (30)
Urban	201 (37)	119 (34)
Dietary intakes (g/day)
Total vitamin C	142 ± 68.7	118 ± 70.1	<.0001
Vitamin C (fruit)	96.6 ± 58.8	75.1 ± 58.8	<.0001
Vitamin C (vegetables)	47.3 ± 27.8	43.3 ± 25.7	<.0001
Total β-carotene	4.9 ± 3.1	4.0 ± 2.6	<.0001
Total β-carotene (fruit)	1.8 ± 2.3	1.2 ± 1.9	<.0001
Total β-carotene (vegetables)	3.1 ± 1.7	2.8 ± 1.6	.045
Social class
I	29 (5.5)	51 (15.0)	<.0001
II	1 (0.2)	14 (4.1)
IIIa	9 (1.7)	34 (10.0)
IIIb	245 (46.1)	115 (33.9)
IV	59 (11.1)	66 (19.5)
Va	25 (5.1)	38 (11.2)
Vb	162 (30.5)	21 (6.2)