Research Article
International Differences in the Links between Obesity and Physiological Dysregulation: The United States, England, and Taiwan
Table 1
Characteristics of persons aged 54+ in the US, England, and Taiwan.
| | US | England | Taiwan |
| N | 1513 | 7384 | 1020 | Age yrs. (mean) | 66.3 | 66.8 | 66.4 | Men (%) | 43.7 | 52.8 | 56.5 | Currently smoking* (%) | 24.5 | 13.9 | 22.5 | Physical activity (%) | 58.5 | 82.2 | 61.4 | Taking antihypertensive meds (%) | 47.1 | 32.0 | 28.6 | At-risk levels of biomarkers (%) | | | | Systolic blood pressure (≥140 mm Hg) | 29.1 | 32.9 | 42.9 | Diastolic blood pressure (≥90 mm Hg) | 5.2 | 8.2 | 24.2 | Total cholesterol (≥240 mg/dL) | 17.6 | 27.3 | 14.6 | High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (<40 mg/dL) | 16.2 | 9.4 | 27.4 | Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (≥160 mg/dL) | 11.9 | 18.6 | 17.1 | Triglycerides (≥200 mg/dL) | 23.6 | 14.7 | 10.6 | Fasting glucose (≥126 mg/dL) | 17.3 | 2.2 | 13.2 | C-Reactive protein (≥3 mg/L) | 39.9 | 35.0 | | Interleukin-6 (≥4.64 pg/mL) | | | 6.4 | Glycated hemoglobin (≥6.4%) | 13.0 | 12.8 | 15.3 | Summary risk (mean; range: 0–9) | 3.0 | 2.4 | 1.7 | Summary risk (mean; range: 0–8) | 2.6 | 2.0 | 1.7 |
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In Taiwan, this indicates having smoked in the past 6 months.
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