Table 1.
Demographic characteristics of participants by diet Group in the combined NDNS (2008–2019) in women of childbearing age
| Variable | Level | Omnivores (n = 2204) | Vegetarians (n = 89) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continuous variables-mean ± SE | ||||
| Age (years) | – | 32.0 ± 0.2 | 33.3 ± 1.1 | 0.227 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | – | 26.2 (25.9–26.6) | 25.8 (24.4–27.3) | 0.580 |
| Energy intake (kcal/day) | – | 1628.8 (1601.5–1656.0) | 1712.9 (1564.3–1861.6) | 0.275 |
| Education% (survey-weighted) | ||||
| Education | Degree+ | 33.9% | 42.3% | 0.173 |
| Other Higher | 10.6% | 3.5% | – | |
| A Levels | 16.8% | 13.0% | – | |
| Other | 38.7% | 41.1% | – | |
| Ethnicity % (survey-weighted) | ||||
| Ethnicity | White | 83.3% | 74.3% | < 0.001 |
| Asian | 6.9% | 25.0% | – | |
| Black | 4.4% | 0.0% | – | |
| Mixed | 2.3% | 0.7% | – | |
| Other | 3.0% | 0.0% | – | |
| Income tertileᵃ % (survey-weighted) | ||||
| Income | Lowest | 34.3% | 32.1% | 0.707 |
| Middle | 30.4% | 25.8% | – | |
| Highest | 35.2% | 42.1% | – | |
| Smoking status % (survey-weighted) | ||||
| Smoking | Current smoker | 25.0% | 13.5% | 0.018 |
| Ex-smoker | 15.5% | 10.2% | – | |
| Never smoked | 59.5% | 76.3% | – | |
ᵃIncome tertiles: Lowest < £17,500/year; Middle £17,500-£32,000/year; Highest > £32,000/year.
p-values: Differences between diet groups were assessed using survey-weighted design-based t-tests for continuous variables (age, BMI, energy intake) and chi-square tests for categorical variables (education, ethnicity, income, smoking status), accounting for the complex survey design. Significant p-values (< 0.05) are shown in bold. Where a p-value is shown only on the first level of a categorical variable, it applies to the overall test for that variable.