Socioeconomic characteristics, lifestyle, chronic diseases and general health in the LifeLines study population as compared with the population of the three northern provinces of the Netherlands.

Direct standardization for age, sex, marital status and level of urbanization to the population of the north of the Netherlands at May 1st 2012 was used.a Body- weight and height measured in LifeLines, self-reported in Permanent Survey of Living Conditions.b Occurrence ‘ever’ of diseases was assessed, except for Chronic non-specific lung disease, Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis and Psoriasis in Permanent Survey of Living Conditions, for which the occurrence in last 12 months was assessed.Socioeconomic characteristics, lifestyle, chronic diseases and general health in the LifeLines study population as compared with the population of the three northern provinces of the Netherlands.