Table 2.
Descriptive statistics
| Meat-eaters | High meat consumers a | Medium meat consumers a | Low meat consumers a | Fish-eaters | Vegetarians | Vegans | p for trend | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 29,589 | 8,286 | 11,971 | 9,332 | 8,123 | 15,751 | 2,041 | |
| Mean (SD) age at recruitment | 49.1 (12.8) | 49.7 (12.3) | 49.8 (12.6) | 47.5 (13.3) | 41.8 (12.9) | 38.6 (12.7) | 37.3 (13.1) | < 0.0001 |
| % female | 76.9 | 72.1 | 77.8 | 80.0 | 82.2 | 76.9 | 63.4 | 0.13 |
| Mean (SD) energy intake (kcal/d) | 1,972 (535) | 2,214 (528) | 1,933 (500) | 1,809 (508) | 1,889 (526) | 1,872 (528) | 1,747 (554) | < 0.0001 |
| Mean (SD) total fat (% energy) | 31.6 (5.9) | 33.2 (5.4) | 31.4 (5.7) | 30.5 (6.2) | 30.7 (6.3) | 30.5 (6.5) | 28.0 (7.3) | < 0.0001 |
| Mean (SD) saturated fat (% energy) | 11.5 (3.3) | 12.4 (3.1) | 11.5 (3.2) | 10.9 (3.4) | 10.6 (3.3) | 10.6 (3.4) | 6.5 (2.1) | < 0.0001 |
| Mean (SD) protein (% energy) | 17.0 (3.0) | 18.5 (3.1) | 17.1 (2.8) | 15.6 (2.5) | 14.7 (2.4) | 13.6 (2.1) | 13.3 (2.3) | < 0.0001 |
| Mean (SD) carbohydrate (% energy) | 48.0 (6.2) | 45.0 (5.7) | 48.1 (5.7) | 50.5 (6.3) | 51.0 (6.5) | 52.5 (6.6) | 55.6 (7.8) | < 0.0001 |
| Mean (SD) total sugars (% energy) | 24.3 (5.7) | 22.5 (5.1) | 24.4 (5.4) | 25.8 (6.3) | 25.1 (6.3) | 25.4 (6.3) | 24.7 (8.7) | < 0.0001 |
| Mean (SD) dietary fibre (NSP; g/d) | 18.7 (6.8) | 18.6 (6.2) | 18.3 (6.5) | 19.4 (7.4) | 21.3 (7.5) | 21.6 (7.8) | 26.1 (9.3) | < 0.0001 |
| Mean (SD) fruit and vegetables (80 g portions/d) | 6.4 (3.5) | 6.1 (3.2) | 6.3 (3.2) | 6.9 (4.0) | 7.3 (3.9) | 7.1 (3.9) | 8.7 (5.6) | < 0.0001 |
SD, Standard deviation
aHigh meat = ≥100 g/d meat consumption; Medium meat = 50–99 g/d; Low meat = <50 g/d. p values indicate significance of trend along ordered categorisation high meat → medium meat → low meat → fish-eaters → vegetarians → vegans