Skip to main content

Table 1 Characteristics of study participants, 2011–2018 (n = 17,079)

From: Greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet pattern in the United States is associated with sustainability trade-offs

 

Mediterranean diet scorea

Characteristic

Quintile 1

(n = 3,977)

Quintile 2

(n = 3,832)

Quintile 3

(n = 3,782)

Quintile 4

(n = 2,852)

Quintile 5

(n = 2,636)

% (95% CI)b

Mediterranean diet score, rangea

0.00–2.00

2.01–3.00

3.01–4.00

4.01–5.00

5.01–8.00

Age, y

 20–30

25.5 (23.2, 27.9)

20.6 (18.1, 23.3)

18.5 (16.3, 21)

15.9 (13.5, 18.7)

14.1 (12.1, 16.4)

 31–50

36.3 (34.2, 38.3)

33.6 (31.3, 35.9)

33.6 (31, 36.3)

34.1 (31, 37.3)

29.9 (27.2, 32.8)

 51–70

28.6 (26.9, 30.4)

34.0 (31.3, 36.7)

35.1 (32.3, 38)

35.5 (32.1, 39)

40.9 (37.3, 44.6)

 > 70

9.7 (8.4, 11.1)

11.9 (10.6, 13.3)

12.9 (11.4, 14.6)

14.5 (12.8, 16.4)

15.1 (13.2, 17.3)

Sex

 Male

48.1 (46.1, 50.1)

47.8 (45.6, 50)

45.7 (42.9, 48.6)

43.6 (40.9, 46.4)

43.1 (40.3, 45.9)

 Female

51.9 (49.9, 53.9)

52.2 (50, 54.4)

54.3 (51.4, 57.1)

56.4 (53.6, 59.1)

56.9 (54.1, 59.7)

Education

 < High school

16.3 (14.6, 18.3)

14.2 (12.4, 16.2)

13.6 (12.1, 15.4)

12.6 (10.8, 14.7)

9.3 (7.7, 11.1)

 High school or equivalent

28.7 (26.3, 31.3)

25.2 (23, 27.5)

21.8 (19.6, 24.2)

9.5 (17.1, 22.1)

15.5 (13.3, 17.9)

 Some college

34.2 (32, 36.4)

35.1 (32.4, 37.8)

34.1 (31.5, 36.8)

29.1 (26.2, 32.1)

28.5 (25.7, 31.4)

 College graduate

20.8 (18.1, 23.7)

25.5 (22.7, 28.4)

30.4 (27.2, 33.9)

38.8 (35.2, 42.6)

46.8 (43, 50.7)

Income-to-poverty ratio

 ≤ 1.30

28.5 (25.8, 31.3)

25.3 (22.8, 27.9)

23.8 (21.6, 26.2)

18.3 (16.1, 20.8)

14.3 (12.4, 16.5)

 1.31–1.99

14.3 (12.8, 16)

14.1 (12.6, 15.6)

14.0 (12.4, 15.8)

12.5 (10.8, 14.4)

11.0 (9.3, 13)

 2.00–3.99

28.9 (26.5, 31.4)

28.3 (25.7, 31.1)

26.2 (23.8, 28.7)

27.6 (24.4, 31.1)

25.9 (22.4, 29.8)

 ≥ 4.00

28.3 (25.4, 31.4)

32.3 (29, 35.9)

36.0 (32.3, 39.8)

41.6 (37.7, 45.6)

48.8 (44.9, 52.6)

Race and Hispanic origin

 Non-Hispanic white

68.3 (64.3, 72)

65.5 (61.2, 69.5)

63.1 (58.9, 67.2)

66.2 (62.1, 70)

62.0 (58, 65.8)

 Non-Hispanic black

12.5(10.3, 15.1)

12.3(10.1, 14.9)

12.0 (9.8, 14.5)

9.9 (8.1, 12.1)

9.2(7.6, 11)

 Hispanicc

12.9 (10.9, 15.3)

15.5 (12.8, 18.6)

15.9 (13.6, 18.6)

13.6 (11.2, 16.4)

12.9 (10.5, 15.7)

 Otherd

6.3 (5.2, 7.6)

6.8 (5.6, 8.1)

9.0 (7.5, 10.7)

10.3 (8.7, 12.2)

15.9 (13.5, 18.8)

  1. Sample sizes are unweighted
  2. Within each quintile, differences between levels of each variable were evaluated using global Wald tests. All levels were significantly different from each other at P < 0.001 except for male vs. female in quintile 1 (P = 0.394) and quintile 2 (P = 0.257)
  3. aMinimum possible score = 0, maximum possible score = 10. See O'Malley et al. (2023). Popular diets as selected by adults in the United States show wide variation in carbon footprints and diet quality. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 117:701–708
  4. bUnless otherwise noted
  5. cIncludes Mexican American
  6. dIncludes multi racial
Back to article page

Nutrition Journal

ISSN: 1475-2891

Contact us