Table 1 Baseline characteristics of study population across tertiles of total snack foods consumption
| Â | Total snack foods | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
T1 | T3 | T3 | P vlaue | |
Participants (n) | 639 | 637 | 639 | Â |
Age (year) | 35.9 ± 0.5 | 34.1 ± 0.5 | 32.4 ± 0.5 | 0.014 |
Female (%) | 55.9 | 60.3 | 62.4 | 0.051 |
Physical activity (MET hour-week) | 5.1 ± 0.3 | 4.8 ± 0.3 | 4.9 ± 0.3 | 0.054 |
Smoker (%) | 18.6 | 20.9 | 25.7 | 0.008 |
Academic degrees (%) | 28.6 | 29.7 | 35.4 |  < 0.001 |
Employed (%) | 47.3 | 44.4 | 37.7 | 0.002 |
Family history of diabetes (%) | 29.1 | 34.9 | 33.1 | 0.114 |
Family history of CVD events (%) | 18.5 | 17.6 | 18.8 | 0.900 |
BMI (kg/m2) | 26.2 ± 0.2 | 25.5 ± 0.2 | 25.1 ± 0.2 |  < 0.001 |
Metabolic syndrome components | ||||
 Fasting plasma glucose (mg/dl) | 96.3 ± 0.8 | 106.3 ± 0.8 | 128.0 ± 0.8 | 0.029 |
 Triglyceride concentration (mg/dl) | 108.3 ± 3.4 | 118.9 ± 3.4 | 126.7 ± 3.4 | 0.002 |
 Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 104.5 ± 0.8 | 118.5 ± 0.8 | 122.1 ± 0.8 | 0.002 |
 Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 69.2 ± 0.6 | 71.6 ± 0.6 | 82.9 ± 0.6 | 0.005 |
 Waist circumference (cm) | 83.8 ± 0.8 | 85.2 ± 0.8 | 86.6 ± 0.8 | 0.035 |
 HDL cholesterol (mg/dl) | 45.7 ± 0.6 | 42.9 ± 0.6 | 44.6 ± 0.6 | 0.118 |