Table 1.
Sociodemographic characteristics of the study population by types of diets.
| Vegetarians | Fish eaters | Fish and poultry eaters | Meat-eaters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socio-demographics | ||||
| Total, n (%) | 7537 (1.8) | 9951 (2.4) | 4883 (1.1) | 400 470 (94.7) |
| Age (years), mean (SD) | 53.1 (7.9) | 54.0 (8.0) | 56.3 (8.1) | 56.5 (8.1) |
| Sex (female), n (%) | 5042 (66.9) | 7197 (72.3) | 3721 (77.0) | 218 307 (54.1) |
| Deprivation, n (%) | ||||
| Lower | 1965 (26.0) | 2893 (29.1) | 1381 (28.6) | 139 264 (34.8) |
| Middle | 2425 (32.2) | 3315 (33.3) | 1558 (32.2) | 135 436 (33.8) |
| Higher | 3147 (41.8) | 3743 (37.6) | 1894 (39.2) | 125 770 (31.4) |
| Ethnicity, n (%) | ||||
| White | 6150 (81.6) | 9372 (94.2) | 4377 (90.6) | 382 551 (95.5) |
| Mixed | 118 (1.6) | 158 (1.6) | 103 (2.1) | 5360 (1.3) |
| South Asian | 1231 (16.3) | 285 (2.9) | 213 (4.4) | 5550 (1.4) |
| Black | 29 (0.4) | 126 (1.2) | 135 (2.8) | 5784 (1.5) |
| Chinese | 9 (0.1) | 10 (0.1) | 5 (0.1) | 1225 (0.3) |
| Obesity-related markers | ||||
| BMI, mean (SD) | 25.6 (4.6) | 25.2 (4.2) | 25.5 (4.5) | 27.4 (4.7) |
| BMI categories, n (%) | ||||
| Underweight (<18.5 kg/m 2) | 128 (1.7) | 162 (1.6) | 76 (1.5) | 1867 (0.4) |
| Normal weight (18.5–24.9 kg/m 2) | 3730 (49.5) | 5262 (52.9) | 2423 (50.1) | 131 241 (32.8) |
| Overweight (25.0–29.9 kg/m2) | 2629 (34.9) | 3354 (33.7) | 1631 (33.8) | 172 577 (43.1) |
| Obese (≥30.0 kg/m2) | 1050 (13.9) | 1173 (11.8) | 703 (11.6) | 94 785 (23.7) |
| Fitness and lifestyle | ||||
| Total PA (MET-min/week), mean (SD) | 2811.1 (2930.2) | 2884.2 (2900.6) | 3196.9 (3152.4) | 2818.7 (3019.9) |
| Sedentary behaviour (h/day), mean (SD) | 4.3 (2.2) | 4.3 (2.1) | 4.5 (2.3) | 5.0 (2.2) |
| Smoking status, n (%) | ||||
| Never | 4825 (64.0) | 5696 (57.3) | 2895 (59.9) | 223 054 (55.7) |
| Previous | 2197 (29.2) | 3564 (35.8) | 1571 (32.5) | 137 220 (34.3) |
| Current | 515 (6.8) | 691 (6.9) | 367 (7.6) | 40 196 (10.0) |
| Alcohol intake frequency, n (%) | ||||
| Daily or almost daily | 1069 (14.2) | 1905 (19.1) | 685 (14.2) | 82 898 (20.7) |
| 3–4 times a week | 1347 (17.9) | 2414 (24.3) | 862 (17.8) | 95 137 (23.8) |
| Once or twice a week | 1514 (20.1) | 2299 (23.1) | 1112 (23.0) | 105 521 (26.4) |
| 1–3 times a month | 885 (11.7) | 1162 (11.7) | 547 (11.3) | 44 535 (11.1) |
| Special occasions only | 1059 (14.0) | 1143 (11.5) | 866 (17.9) | 44 214 (11.0) |
| Never | 1663 (22.1) | 1028 (10.3) | 761 (15.8) | 28 165 (7.0) |
| Health status | ||||
| Multimorbidity, n (%) | ||||
| None | 3122 (41.4) | 4172 (41.9) | 1770 (36.6) | 143 910 (35.9) |
| ≥1 | 4415 (58.6) | 5779 (58.1) | 3063 (63.4) | 256 560 (64.1) |
BMI, body mass index; MET, metabolic equivalent; PA, physical activity; SD, standard deviation.