Baseline characteristics of the study participants according to tea consumption
| Men (n=199 293) | Women (n=288 082) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Never | Less than daily | Daily (g/day) | Never | Less than daily | Daily (g/day) | |||||||
| 0.1–2.0 | 2.1–3.0 | 3.1–5.0 | >5.0 | 0.1–2.0 | 2.1–3.0 | 3.1–5.0 | >5.0 | |||||
| Participants (n) | 38 360 | 78 466 | 26 654 | 12 661 | 19 602 | 23 550 | 131 974 | 110 295 | 22 548 | 9510 | 7743 | 6012 |
| Age (year) | 53.9 | 50.1 | 53.4 | 53.0 | 52.4 | 51.2 | 51.7 | 48.9 | 51.0 | 51.2 | 50.6 | 49.9 |
| Rural area (%) | 60.3 | 56.2 | 63.9 | 67.2 | 52.2 | 48.4 | 57.0 | 52.8 | 66.7 | 84.0 | 45.0 | 49.4 |
| Married (%) | 91.6 | 93.2 | 92.7 | 93.3 | 93.9 | 94.1 | 88.9 | 89.7 | 90.7 | 90.3 | 90.3 | 90.8 |
| Middle school and higher (%) | 52.1 | 58.1 | 58.8 | 60.5 | 60.7 | 60.5 | 38.9 | 46.0 | 47.9 | 48.8 | 48.9 | 47.5 |
| Current smoker (%) | 49.8 | 58.1 | 67.5 | 69.9 | 72.2 | 76.9 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 3.5 | 4.7 | 4.1 | 6.3 |
| Weekly alcohol drinking (%) | 22.8 | 32.0 | 39.3 | 40.3 | 42.7 | 42.6 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 4.5 | 5.7 | 5.1 | 7.4 |
| Physical activity (MET hour/day) | 22.9 | 23.1 | 22.0 | 22.5 | 21.8 | 21.8 | 21.0 | 21.0 | 20.0 | 19.9 | 20.2 | 19.8 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2)* | 23.1 | 23.4 | 23.4 | 23.4 | 23.6 | 23.6 | 23.5 | 23.9 | 24.1 | 24.1 | 24.3 | 24.6 |
| Average weekly consumption† | ||||||||||||
| Red meat (day) | 3.7 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 3.8 |
| Fresh vegetables (day) | 6.8 | 6.8 | 6.9 | 6.8 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 6.9 |
| Fresh fruits (day) | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
| Diabetes (%) | 4.9 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 5.6 | 6.2 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.9 |
| Hypertension (%) | 34.7 | 35.3 | 36.2 | 37.3 | 37.9 | 37.1 | 31.7 | 31.8 | 34.2 | 33.6 | 35.3 | 35.5 |
| Family history of heart attack (%) | 6.4 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.6 | 6.7 | 7.1 | 5.5 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.2 | 6.8 |
| Postmenopausal (%) | – | – | – | – | – | – | 51.2 | 50.5 | 50.3 | 50.0 | 49.7 | 49.6 |
| Characteristics of daily tea consumer | ||||||||||||
| Age of starting tea consumption (year) | – | – | 28.6 | 28.1 | 27.4 | 26.0 | – | – | 27.0 | 26.9 | 25.8 | 24.6 |
| Years of tea consumption (year) | – | – | 23.9 | 24.3 | 25.1 | 26.5 | – | – | 23.8 | 23.9 | 25.1 | 26.3 |
| Green tea consumer (%) | – | – | 82.7 | 82.4 | 82.4 | 82.3 | – | – | 91.6 | 91.2 | 92.0 | 91.5 |
All variables were adjusted for age and survey regions, as appropriate. All exposures were associated with tea consumption, with p<0.001 for trend across categories, except for diabetes (men: p=0.004; women: p=0.003), and green tea consumer in women (p=0.309). Tests for linear trend were only conducted in daily consumers by modelling the amount of tea consumption (in g/day) as a variable in regression models.
*Body mass index was defined as the bodyweight divided by the square of the height.
†Average weekly consumptions of red meat, fresh vegetables and fruits were calculated by assigning participants to the midpoint of their consumption category.
MET, metabolic equivalent task.