Baseline characteristics^* of the study participants in the current analysis in comparison with the rest of Nurses' Health Study participants, 1990.

<p>Abbreviations: NHS, the Nurses' Health Study; BMI, body mass index; HRT, hormone replacement therapy; AHEI, alternate healthy eating index.</p>*<p>Values were age-adjusted mean±SE for continuous variables or age-adjusted proportion for categorical variables, except age <i>per se</i>.</p>†<p>The same exclusion criteria were applied to the rest NHS participants. Therefore, this group was primarily consisted of participants who responded to 1990 FFQ.</p>‡<p>Excluded by two reasons, i.e., missing values of low-risk factors (83.2%) due to non-response to 1988 or 1990 follow-up questionnaires and development of prevalent chronic diseases at baseline (16.8%).</p>§<p>Assessed by 1988 questionnaire. Moderate physical activities included walking at a brisk (3.0–3.9 MPH) or very brisk (≥4.0 MPH) pace. Vigorous physical activities included jogging (≥10 min/mile), running (<10 min/mile), bicycling, lap swimming, tennis, and calisthenics/aerobics/aerobic dance/rowing machine. All other variables were assessed using the 1990 questionnaire, which was administered primarily during blood collection.