Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of the study population, overall and by categories reflecting adherence to the EAT-Lancet reference diet

	EAT-Lancet reference diet score
	Total (n = 473,836)	Low adherence, 0–4 points (n = 229,968)	Moderate adherence, 5–7 points (n = 221,727)	High adherence, 8–11 points (n = 22,141)
Age at recruitment, mean (SD)	56.50 (8.08)	56.33 (8.15)	56.64 (8.02)	57.32 (7.73)
Sex - Female, %	54.52	50.95	57.15	65.23
Highest level of attained education, %
None of the following	16.36	15.38	17.17	18.36
CSEs/O-levels/GCSEsa, or equivalent	25.55	25.89	25.34	24.05
NVQ/HND/HNC/A-levels/AS-levels or equivalent	17.19	17.38	17.04	16.74
Other professional qualifications	28.45	29.40	27.66	26.62
College/university degree	11.55	11.20	11.77	12.95
Prefer not to answer/Missing	0.90	0.75	1.02	1.29
Smoking status, %
Never smokers	54.63	54.35	54.84	55.37
Former smokers	34.67	33.96	35.21	36.70
Current smokers	10.39	11.42	9.60	7.52
Prefer not to answer/Missing	0.32	0.27	0.35	0.42
Body mass index, %
≤18.5 kg/m2	0.50	0.55	0.45	0.53
18.5–24.9 kg/m2	32.48	33.04	31.94	32.04
25.0–29.9 kg/m2	42.37	41.83	42.87	43.04
≥30 kg/m2	24.15	24.15	24.19	23.78
Missing	0.49	0.42	0.55	0.60
Alcohol intake status, %
Never drinkers	4.15	3.40	4.68	6.59
Former drinkers	3.43	3.12	3.65	4.58
Current drinkers	92.34	93.42	91.59	88.76
Prefer not to answer/Missing	0.08	0.07	0.09	0.07
Physical activity, %
Less than 75 min per week	31.85	32.37	31.58	29.19
75–150 min per week	13.30	13.33	13.31	12.86
150 min or more per week	49.47	49.16	49.48	52.52
Prefer not to answer/Missing	5.38	5.14	5.63	5.43

^aA-level: General Certificate of Education Advanced level; AS-levels: General Certificate of Education Advanced Supplementary level; CSE: Certificate of Secondary Education; HNC: Higher National Certificate; HND: Higher National Diploma; GCSE: General Certificate of Secondary Education; NVQ: National Vocational Qualification; O-level: General Certificate of Education Ordinary level; SD: Standard deviation.