Descriptive characteristics of the included participants by sex and group of waist circumference
| Women (n=39 963) | Men (n=30 867) | |||
| Low waist circumference | Abdominal obesity | Low waist circumference | Abdominal obesity | |
| Age at accelerometer assessment (mean (SD)) | 60.9 (7.8) | 62.2 (7.5) | 61.7 (8.1) | 62.9 (7.6) |
| Physical activity (median, (range)) | ||||
| Total volume (average acceleration, mg) | 29.1 (7.7–97.1) | 25.6 (5.9–67.5) | 28.1 (8.2–97.2) | 24.4 (5.9–89.5) |
| LPA (min/week) | 2287.3 (28.0–5799.5) | 2130.1 (47.0–5702.6) | 1910.7 (68.0–5409.5) | 1773.8 (143.6–4855.9) |
| MVPA (min/week) | 233.0 (0.0–2509.2) | 148.0 (0.0–2229.2) | 332.0 (0.0–2999.7) | 226.0 (0.0–2388.3) |
| VPA (min/week) | 6.0 (0.0–734.2) | 2.5 (0.0–468.5) | 10.5 (0.0–756.7) | 4.5 (0.0–480.0) |
| BMI categories (n; %) | ||||
| Normal weight (18.5–24.9 kg/m2) | 18 864; 65.3 | 447; 4.0 | 9656; 40.8 | 24; 0.3 |
| Overweight (25–29.9 kg/m2) | 9402; 32.6 | 4674; 42.1 | 12 929; 54.6 | 2458; 34.2 |
| Obese (≥30.0 kg/m2) | 603; 2.1 | 5973; 53.8 | 1089; 4.6 | 4711; 65.5 |
| Ethnicity (n; %) | ||||
| White | 27 876; 96.8 | 10 630; 96.2 | 22 832; 96.8 | 6984; 97.5 |
| Asian | 334; 1.2 | 96; 0.9 | 341; 1.4 | 68; 0.9 |
| Black | 218; 0.8 | 178; 1.6 | 198; 0.8 | 53; 0.7 |
| Others/mixed | 365; 1.3 | 151; 1.4 | 225; 1.0 | 60; 0.8 |
| Townsend Index (mean (SD)) | −1.8 (2.8) | −1.5 (2.9) | −1.9 (2.8) | −1.7 (2.8) |
| Education (n; %) | ||||
| No qualifications | 1851; 6.5 | 963; 8.8 | 1527; 6.5 | 669; 9.4 |
| Not college/university degree | 13 714; 47.9 | 5842; 53.2 | 10 276; 43.8 | 3676; 51.7 |
| College/university degree | 13 036; 45.6 | 4172; 38.0 | 11 655; 49.7 | 2764; 38.9 |
| Living with partner (n; %) | 21 461; 74.5 | 7801; 70.5 | 19 338; 81.9 | 5790; 80.7 |
| Employment status (n; %) | ||||
| Unemployed (not in employment) | 2122; 7.4 | 724; 6.6 | 675; 2.9 | 244; 3.4 |
| Employed | 18 793; 65.6 | 6839; 62.0 | 16 333; 69.4 | 4778; 66.8 |
| Retired | 7737; 27.0 | 3467; 31.4 | 6526; 27.7 | 2133; 29.8 |
| Diet pattern (n; %) | ||||
| Not meeting any targets | 3509; 12.3 | 1619; 14.9 | 5369; 23.1 | 1939; 27.6 |
| Meeting one target | 10 957; 38.5 | 4377; 40.2 | 9729; 41.9 | 3006; 42.9 |
| Meeting 2–3 targets | 13 994; 49.2 | 4883; 44.9 | 8147; 35.0 | 2069; 29.5 |
| Alcohol consumption (n; %) | ||||
| Never | 948; 3.3 | 434; 3.9 | 402; 1.7 | 127; 1.8 |
| Former | 618; 2.1 | 285; 2.6 | 532; 2.2 | 147; 2.0 |
| Current, <3 times/week | 13 834; 48.0 | 6195; 55.9 | 8886; 37.6 | 2946; 41.0 |
| Current, ≥3 times/week | 13 443; 46.6 | 4168; 37.6 | 13 837; 58.5 | 3967; 55.2 |
| Smoking status (n; %) | ||||
| Never | 18 492; 64.2 | 6510; 58.9 | 13 627; 57.7 | 3306; 46.1 |
| Previous | 8862; 30.8 | 3880; 35.1 | 8201; 34.7 | 3295; 45.9 |
| Current | 1450; 5.0 | 669; 6.0 | 1789; 7.6 | 572; 8.0 |
| History of depression (n; %) | 1252; 4.3 | 755; 6.8 | 648; 2.7 | 284; 3.9 |
| Type 2 diabetes (n; %) | 208; 0.7 | 481; 4.3 | 583; 2.5 | 673; 9.4 |
| Hypertension (n; %) | 10 214; 35.4 | 6361; 57.3 | 12 020; 50.8 | 5181; 72.0 |
| Statin user (n; %) | 1406; 4.9 | 1253; 11.3 | 2659; 11.2 | 1584; 22.0 |
Abdominal obesity was defined based on the WHO’s cut-offs as ≥88 cm for women and ≥102 cm for men. Number varies from 68 090 (healthy diet pattern) to 70 830 because of missing data.
BMI, body mass index; LPA, light-intensity physical activity; MVPA, Moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity; VPA, vigorous-intensity physical activity.