Table 2.
Descriptive characteristics of the EPIC-NL participants (follow up wave 4)—total analytical sample and according to the level of intake of ultra-processed foods (UPFs)
| Total sample | Dietary percentage of grams from UPFs | Dietary percentage of calories from UPFs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) or % n = 8104 |
Lowest tertile n = 2702 |
Highest tertile n = 2701 |
Lowest tertile n = 2702 |
Highest tertile n = 2701 |
|
| Age | 69.9 (10.0) | 70.7 (9.2) | 68.8 (10.7) | 70.4 (9.0) | 69.5 (10.6) |
| Sex (%) | |||||
| Female | 80.3% | 87.4% | 71.8% | 83.6% | 75.9% |
| Region of residence (%) | |||||
| Amsterdam | 20.1% | 21.8% | 18.8% | 22.9% | 17.4% |
| Maastricht | 23.6% | 14.1% | 35.0% | 15.6% | 32.1% |
| Utrecht | 56.3% | 64.1% | 46.2% | 61.5% | 50.5% |
| Educational attainment (%) | |||||
| Lower | 57.4% | 48.5% | 66.4% | 48.0% | 67.7% |
| Middle | 11.0% | 11.6% | 10.2% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| Higher | 31.6% | 40.0% | 23.4% | 40.6% | 22.1% |
| Marital status (%) | |||||
| Living with partner | 66.6% | 64.2% | 69.2% | 63.3% | 67.8% |
| BMI (kg/m2)a | 25.8 (4.5) | 25.0 (4.1) | 26.7 (4.9) | 25.1 (4.1) | 26.6 (4.9) |
| Total calories (kcal) | 1896 (640) | 1679 (521) | 2091 (721) | 1731 (554) | 2037 (695) |
| Percentage of calories from UPFs | 37 (11) | 28 (8) | 46 (9) | 25 (5) | 49 (7) |
| Total grams | 2535 (770) | 2599 (746) | 2508 (835) | 2510 (760) | 2521 (760) |
| Percentage of grams from UPFs | 18 (9) | 10 (2) | 28 (9) | 12 (5) | 25 (10) |
| g/d of fruitb | 163 (75–236) | 211 (102–245) | 115 (58–220) | 208 (99–244) | 115 (57–223) |
| g/d of vegetablesb | 119 (70–173) | 135 (84–193) | 102 (50–150) | 135 (87–193) | 100 (50–144) |
| g/d of processed meatb | 23 (9–25) | 16 (4–31) | 32 (15–54) | 17 (4–33) | 31 (14–53) |
| g/d of savoury snacksb | 7 (0–19) | 3 (0–12) | 12 (3–27) | 3 (0–10) | 13 (3–28) |
| g/d soft drinksb | 0 (0–29) | 0 (0–1) | 27 (0–166) | 0 (0–6) | 15 (0–100) |
| Dutch Healthy Diet index 2015c | 80 (17) | 84 (17) | 74 (17) | 82 (17) | 76 (16) |
Percentages refer to participants in each category. Middle tertile for percentage of consumption of UPFs was omitted for the sake of space
Values are means (standard deviation), unless otherwise indicated
aVariable with missing data (n = 290)
bMedian (interquartile range)
cVariable with missing data (n = 193)
g/d grams per day, UPFs ultra-processed foods, BMI body mass index