Characteristics of the participants by IWL during the year prior to baseline (n=4270)
| IWL | |||
| No (n=3712) | Yes (n=558) | P value for heterogeneity | |
| Mean (SD) or %* | Mean (SD) or %* | ||
| Sociodemographic factors | |||
| Sex (% male) | 47.4 | 35.7 | <0.001 |
| Age (years) | 47.5 (10.6) | 45.9 (9.93) | <0.001 |
| High education (%) | 33.5 | 39.1 | 0.008 |
| Lifestyle factors | |||
| BMI (kg/m2) | 26.3 (4.43) | 28.7 (5.05) | <0.001 |
| Regular vigorous training (%) | 19.6 | 22.1 | 0.16 |
| Alcohol consumption (g ethanol/week) | 81.9 (145) | 86.6 (126) | 0.44 |
| Current smoking (%) | 29.9 | 29.3 | 0.76 |
| Energy intake (kcal/day) | 2314 (785) | 2242 (751) | 0.04 |
| AHEI (score) (range 7–35) | 20.9 (4.87) | 22.4 (4.96) | <0.001 |
| Sleep duration (hours) | 7.45 (1.01) | 7.42 (1.05) | 0.59 |
| Metabolic factors | |||
| Waist circumference (cm) | 90.7 (12.9) | 96.8 (14.4) | <0.001 |
| Elevated blood pressure (%) | 55.0 | 58.7 | 0.08 |
| Serum triglycerides (mmol/L) | 1.51 (1.02) | 1.65 (0.98) | 0.002 |
| Serum HDL cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1.36 (0.38) | 1.26 (0.35) | <0.001 |
| Fasting serum glucose (mmol/L) | 5.34 (0.54) | 5.40 (0.94) | 0.01 |
| MetS (IDF definition) (%) | 34.8 | 48.5 | <0.001 |
| Indicators of poor health | |||
| Severe MetS† (%) | 4.49 | 5.42 | 0.33 |
| Poor mental health‡ (%) | 21.6 | 23.6 | 0.28 |
| Poor or quite poor self-perceived health (%) | 6.65 | 6.87 | 0.85 |
| Osteoarthritis (%) | 4.38 | 5.88 | 0.11 |
*Adjusted for age and sex.
†Fulfillment of each MetS precondition (according to IDF definition).
‡General Health Questionnaire score >2.
AHEI, Alternate Healthy Eating Index; BMI, body mass index; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; IDF, International Diabetes Federation; IWL, intentional weight loss; MetS, metabolic syndrome; n, number of subjects in respective category.