Characteristics of the study participants at enrollment overall and by regions (n=147 812)*
| Overall (n=147 812) | North America /Europe (n=19 712) | South America (n=23 717) | Africa (n=6187) | Middle East (n=10 410) | South Asia (n=30 594) | Southeast Asia (n=11 713) | China (n=45 479) | |
| Age (years), mean (SD) | 50.6 (9.9) | 52.8 (9.3) | 51.4 (9.7) | 49.9 (10.6) | 48.2 (9.4) | 48.4 (10.3) | 51.9 (9.9) | 51.0 (9.8) |
| Male (%) | 62 005 (41.9) | 8631 (43.8) | 9163 (38.6) | 1863 (30.1) | 4992 (47.9) | 13 439 (43.9) | 4886 (41.7) | 19 031 (41.8) |
| Urban (%) | 78 742 (53.20 | 13 614 (69.0) | 13 590 (57.3) | 3001 (48.5) | 5974 (57.4) | 14 815 (48.4) | 5685 (48.6) | 22 063 (48.5) |
| Body mass index (kg/m2), mean (SD) | 25.8 (5.3) | 28.0 (5.4) | 28.2 (5.5) | 26.3 (7.3) | 28.7 (5.5) | 23.0 (4.9) | 26.0 (5.0) | 24.6 (3.7) |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg), mean (SD) | 131.3 (22.4) | 131.6 (20.9) | 132.1 (22.8) | 138.0 (27.0) | 125.6 (19.4) | 126.1 (21.3) | 136.5 (23.8) | 133.5 (22.4) |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg), mean (SD) | 81.9 (15.3) | 81.9 (12.5) | 83.1 (23.3) | 86.8 (15.7) | 78.4 (11.4) | 80.2 (12.9) | 81.4 (14.7) | 82.8 (13.2) |
| Waist circumference (cm), mean (SD) | 84.8 (13.7) | 90.6 (14.1) | 92.1 (13.3) | 83.5 (15.6) | 91.8 (13.1) | 78.4 (13.4) | 86.2 (12.3) | 81.1 (10.6) |
| HDL-C (mmol/L), mean (SD) | 1.20 (0.34) | 1.36 (0.37) | 1.19 (0.29) | 1.22 (0.42) | 1.09 (0.28) | 1.16 (0.35) | 1.19 (0.31) | 1.18 (0.31) |
| Triglycerides (mmol/L), mean (SD) | 1.54 (1.06) | 1.41 (0.86) | 1.89 (1.32) | 1.20 (0.78) | 1.70 (1.09) | 1.44 (0.93) | 1.73 (1.04) | 1.46 (1.03) |
| Blood glucose (mmol/L), mean (SD) | 5.34 (1.91) | 5.35 (1.35) | 5.19 (1.75) | 4.89 (2.61) | 5.72 (2.37) | 5.43 (2.64) | 5.37 (2.32) | 5.32 (1.51) |
| High physical activity (MET)† | 60,559/137,804 (43.9) | 9,802/18,328 (53.5) | 12,247/22,650 (54.1) | 1,541/3,685 (41.8) | 2,565/10,311 (24.9) | 11,777/26,926 (43.7) | 3,689/11,070 (33.3) | 18,938/44,834 (42.2) |
| Education status (%) | ||||||||
| Primary school | 42.8 | 22.0 | 59.1 | 63.9 | 49.3 | 51.2 | 40.4 | 34.1 |
| Secondary school | 37.8 | 27.9 | 24.0 | 34.0 | 31.3 | 35.0 | 45.8 | 51.1 |
| College | 19.4 | 50.2 | 16.9 | 2.1 | 19.4 | 13.9 | 13.8 | 14.8 |
| Energy intake (Kcal), mean (SD) | 2143 (816) | 2266 (833) | 2209 (797) | 2033 (950) | 2319 (829) | 2106 (826) | 2499 (1016) | 1964 (667) |
| Dairy intake (g/day), mean (SD) | ||||||||
| Total dairy | 179.0 (224.1) | 351.1 (272.9) | 264.4 (283.3) | 90.5 (114.5) | 296.5 (208.6) | 146.6 (187.7) | 35.6 (74.5) | 103.9 (140.1) |
| Whole fat dairy | 124.6 (174.7) | 156.8 (168.3) | 188.0 (248.3) | 85.7 (109.9) | 140.6 (140.9) | 138.6 (183.3) | 34.9 (73.9) | 92.8 (136.0) |
| Low fat dairy‡ | 65.0 (153.6) | 194.3 (240.5) | 76.4 (169.9) | 11.8 (32.2) | 94.9 (137.1) | 31.0 (74.7) | 1.5 (4.1) | 11.0 (48.0) |
| Milk | 105.7 (169.1) | 192.9 (232.3) | 196.3 (248.6) | 86.9 (111.3) | 87.3 (113.7) | 52.3 (96.1) | 35.0 (74.5) | 81.5 (16.5) |
| Yogurt | 66.2 (122.3) | 111.5 (145.3) | 48.5 (99.4) | 3.7 (13.6) | 185.2 (171.6) | 89.8 (139.2) | 0.24 (6.7) | 21.2 (58.8) |
| Cheese | 12.3 (25.5) | 42.1 (41.1) | 16.8 (24.1) | 0.7 (3.7) | 16.1 (13.3) | 2.7 (10.1) | 5.2 (7.6) | 1.1 (7.3) |
| Butter§ | 3.3 (25.4) | 3.4 (7.5) | 4.9 (42.1) | 0.3 (1.6) | 2.7 (5.7) | 2.3 (17.2) | 0.6 (1.1) | NA |
*We categorized countries into seven regions based on similarities in dietary patterns: China, South Asia (India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan), North America and Europe (Canada, Poland, and Sweden), South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia), Middle East (Iran, occupied Palestine territory, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates), South East Asia (Philippines and Malaysia), and Africa (Tanzania, South Africa, and Zimbabwe).
†High (>3000 MET per min per week); MET=metabolic equivalents.
‡Low fat dairy was not recorded in two centers in India (Trivandrum and Jaipur), Malaysia, and South Africa.
§Butter intake was not recorded in China, Malaysia, the occupied Palestinian territory, and Sweden.
HDL-C, high density lipoprotein cholesterol; NA, not available.