Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the FEED cohort by diet group.
| Omnivorous | Flexitarian | Pescatarian | Vegetarian | Vegan | All | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 1562 (24.6%) | 1349 (21.3%) | 568 (9.0%) | 1292 (20.4%) | 1571 (24.8%) | 6342 (100.0%) | |
| Length following diet | |||||||
| <1 year | 56 (3.6%) | 90 (6.7%) | 23 (4.0%) | 23 (1.8%) | 106 (6.7%) | 298 (4.7%) | <0.001 |
| 1–4 years | 161 (10.3%) | 386 (28.6%) | 138 (24.3%) | 148 (11.5%) | 572 (36.4%) | 1405 (22.2%) | |
| 5–19 years | 154 (9.9%) | 463 (34.3%) | 154 (27.1%) | 212 (16.4%) | 648 (41.2%) | 1631 (25.7%) | |
| 20+ years | 1191 (76.2%) | 410 (30.4%) | 253 (44.5%) | 909 (70.4%) | 245 (15.6%) | 3008 (47.4%) | |
| Age (years) | 52.8 ± 14.6 | 52.0 ± 16.9 | 53.3 ± 16.3 | 53.0 ± 16.2 | 48.1 ± 15.2 | 51.5 ± 15.9 | <0.001 |
| Gender | |||||||
| Female | 1243 (79.6%) | 1153 (85.5%) | 493 (86.8%) | 1060 (82.0%) | 1167 (74.3%) | 5116 (80.7%) | |
| Male | 310 (19.8%) | 176 (13.0%) | 71 (12.5%) | 216 (16.7%) | 353 (22.5%) | 1126 (17.8%) | <0.001 |
| Prefer not to say | 9 (0.6%) | 20 (1.5%) | 4 (0.7%) | 16 (1.2%) | 51 (3.2%) | 100 (1.6%) | |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 30.0 ± 7.0 | 27.5 ± 6.2 | 28.0 ± 6.2 | 28.7 ± 6.6 | 27.5 ± 6.2 | 28.4 ± 6.6 | <0.001 |
| Ethnicity | |||||||
| White | 1468 (94.0%) | 1254 (93.0%) | 536 (94.4%) | 1245 (96.4%) | 1482 (94.3%) | 5985 (94.4%) | 0.012 |
| Black | 4 (0.3%) | 10 (0.7%) | 5 (0.9%) | 3 (0.2%) | 4 (0.3%) | 26 (0.4%) | |
| Asian | 39 (2.5%) | 47 (3.5%) | 12 (2.1%) | 23 (1.8%) | 32 (2.0%) | 153 (2.4%) | |
| Other | 28 (1.8%) | 23 (1.7%) | 11 (1.9%) | 11 (0.9%) | 30 (1.9%) | 103 (1.6%) | |
| Do not want to disclose | 23 (1.5%) | 15 (1.1%) | 4 (0.7%) | 10 (0.8%) | 23 (1.5%) | 75 (1.2%) | |
| Overall health | |||||||
| Good or excellent | 1204 (77.1%) | 1077 (79.8%) | 456 (80.3%) | 969 (75.0%) | 1293 (82.3%) | 4999 (78.8%) | <0.001 |
| Fair | 308 (19.7%) | 232 (17.2%) | 98 (17.3%) | 258 (20.0%) | 217 (13.8%) | 1113 (17.5%) | |
| Poor | 47 (3.0%) | 38 (2.8%) | 14 (2.5%) | 59 (4.6%) | 54 (3.4%) | 212 (3.3%) | |
| Do not know/prefer not to say | 3 (0.2%) | 2 (0.1%) | 0 (0.0%) | 6 (0.5%) | 7 (0.4%) | 18 (0.3%) | |
| Ever smoked tobacco | |||||||
| No, never | 958 (61.3%) | 886 (65.7%) | 341 (60.0%) | 827 (64.0%) | 944 (60.1%) | 3956 (62.4%) | 0.004 |
| Yes, in the past | 524 (33.5%) | 422 (31.3%) | 202 (35.6%) | 428 (33.1%) | 558 (35.5%) | 2134 (33.6%) | |
| Yes, now | 80 (5.1%) | 41 (3.0%) | 25 (4.4%) | 37 (2.9%) | 69 (4.4%) | 252 (4.0%) | |
| Vigorous exercise in the last 12 months | |||||||
| No | 340 (21.8%) | 266 (19.7%) | 115 (20.2%) | 327 (25.3%) | 301 (19.2%) | 1349 (21.3%) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 1222 (78.2%) | 1083 (80.3%) | 453 (79.8%) | 965 (74.7%) | 1270 (80.8%) | 4993 (78.7%) | |
| Highest attained education | |||||||
| GCSEs * | 127 (8.1%) | 71 (5.3%) | 37 (6.5%) | 101 (7.8%) | 121 (7.7%) | 457 (7.2%) | <0.001 |
| A levels Ɨ | 225 (14.4%) | 155 (11.5%) | 73 (12.9%) | 221 (17.1%) | 273 (17.4%) | 947 (14.9%) | |
| University degree | 1163 (74.5%) | 1101 (81.6%) | 441 (77.6%) | 934 (72.3%) | 1128 (71.8%) | 4767 (75.2%) | |
| None | 12 (0.8%) | 7 (0.5%) | 7 (1.2%) | 16 (1.2%) | 17 (1.1%) | 59 (0.9%) | |
| Do not want to disclose | 35 (2.2%) | 15 (1.1%) | 10 (1.8%) | 20 (1.5%) | 32 (2.0%) | 112 (1.8%) | |
| Paid job at present | |||||||
| Yes | 961 (61.5%) | 792 (58.7%) | 332 (58.5%) | 729 (56.4%) | 1020 (64.9%) | 3834 (60.5%) | <0.001 |
| No | 131 (8.4%) | 108 (8.0%) | 48 (8.5%) | 127 (9.8%) | 197 (12.5%) | 611 (9.6%) | |
| Retired | 429 (27.5%) | 424 (31.4%) | 178 (31.3%) | 405 (31.3%) | 300 (19.1%) | 1736 (27.4%) | |
| Do not want to disclose | 41 (2.6%) | 25 (1.9%) | 10 (1.8%) | 31 (2.4%) | 54 (3.4%) | 161 (2.5%) | |
| Average total income before tax received by household | |||||||
| <GBP 18,000-GBP 49,999 | 673 (43.1%) | 624 (46.3%) | 258 (45.4%) | 586 (45.4%) | 808 (51.4%) | 2949 (46.5%) | <0.001 |
| GBP 50,000–GBP 100,000 | 585 (37.5%) | 474 (35.1%) | 197 (34.7%) | 396 (30.7%) | 460 (29.3%) | 2112 (33.3%) | |
| Do not want to disclose | 304 (19.5%) | 251 (18.6%) | 113 (19.9%) | 310 (24.0%) | 303 (19.3%) | 1281 (20.2%) | |
| Region | |||||||
| England | |||||||
| East Midlands | 205 (13.2%) | 130 (9.7%) | 73 (12.9%) | 161 (12.5%) | 210 (13.4%) | 779 (12.3%) | <0.001 |
| Greater London | 131 (8.4%) | 207 (15.5%) | 81 (14.3%) | 157 (12.2%) | 191 (12.2%) | 767 (12.2%) | |
| North East | 82 (5.3%) | 55 (4.1%) | 39 (6.9%) | 88 (6.8%) | 109 (7.0%) | 373 (5.9%) | |
| North West | 109 (7.0%) | 92 (6.9%) | 38 (6.7%) | 131 (10.2%) | 169 (10.8%) | 539 (8.5%) | |
| South East | 542 (34.9%) | 442 (33.0%) | 163 (28.8%) | 320 (24.8%) | 349 (22.3%) | 1816 (28.8%) | |
| South West | 189 (12.2%) | 180 (13.5%) | 78 (13.8%) | 150 (11.6%) | 217 (13.9%) | 814 (12.9%) | |
| West Midlands | 125 (8.0%) | 94 (7.0%) | 36 (6.4%) | 117 (9.1%) | 112 (7.2%) | 484 (7.7%) | |
| Northern Ireland | 12 (0.8%) | 7 (0.5%) | 3 (0.5%) | 13 (1.0%) | 19 (1.2%) | 54 (0.9%) | |
| Scotland | 93 (6.0%) | 85 (6.4%) | 29 (5.1%) | 100 (7.8%) | 95 (6.1%) | 402 (6.4%) | |
| Wales | 66 (4.2%) | 46 (3.4%) | 26 (4.6%) | 52 (4.0%) | 91 (5.8%) | 281 (4.5%) | |
Data are presented as mean ± SD for continuous measures, and n (%) for categorical measures. p-Values for ANOVA and Chi2 tests. * GCSE—qualification in a specific subject typically taken by school students aged 14–16 in the UK except Scotland. Ɨ A-Levels (Advanced Level qualifications)—UK subject-based qualification for students aged 16 and above (includes Scottish Highers).