Skip to main content
. 2021 Dec 2;19:305. doi: 10.1186/s12916-021-02172-5

Table 1.

Characteristics of the study population by the MVPA categories at baseline

Not meeting the recommendations Meeting the recommendations
< 300 MET/min/week 300–599 MET/min/week 600–899 MET/min/week 900–1199 MET/min/week ≥ 1200 MET/min/week
Socio-demographics
Total n (%) 727 (0.9) 2351 (2.8) 5438 (6.4) 7073 (8.3) 69,265 (81.6)
Age at PA assessment (years), mean (SD) 69.0 (5.8) 68.0 (6.0) 66.6 (6.6) 65.3 (7.0) 61.5 (7.8)
Sex (female), n (%) 396 (54.5) 1190 (50.6) 2945 (54.2) 3900 (55.1) 38,905 (56.2)
Deprivation, n (%)
 Lower 234 (32.1) 843 (35.9) 1955 (36.0) 2618 (37.0) 26,193 (37.8)
 Middle 236 (32.5) 768 (32.7) 1904 (35.0) 2574 (36.4) 23,798 (34.4)
 Higher 257 (35.4) 740 (31.4) 1579 (29.0) 1881 (26.6) 19,274 (27.8)
Ethnicity, n (%)
 White 713 (98.1) 2310 (98.3) 5307 (91.6) 6913 (97.7) 67,010 (96.7)
 Others 14 (1.9) 41 (1.7) 131 (2.4) 160 (2.3) 2255 (3.3)
Educational attainment, n (%)
College/university degree 268 (36.9) 819 (34.8) 2034 (37.4) 2726 (38.5) 30,712 (44.4)
A-levels 94 (12.9) 265 (11.3) 677 (12.5) 965 (13.6) 9214 (13.3)
O-levels 148 (20.4) 498 (21.2) 1186 (21.8) 1518 (21.5) 14,153 (20.4)
CSEs 11 (1.5) 70 (2.9) 171 (3.1) 241 (3.4) 2935 (4.2)
NVQ, HND, HNC or equivalent 48 (6.6) 187 (8.0) 346 (6.4) 432 (6.1) 3617 (5.2)
Other professional qualification 49 (6.7) 171 (7.3) 340 (6.2) 429 (6.1) 3369 (4.9)
None of the above 109 (15.0) 341 (14.5) 684 (12.6) 762 (10.8) 5265 (7.6)
Lifestyle
Smoking status, n (%)
 Never 316 (43.5) 1103 (46.9) 2786 (51.2) 3841 (54.3) 40,231 (58.1)
 Previous 305 (42.0) 966 (41.1) 2125 (39.1) 2700 (38.2) 24,649 (35.6)
  Current 106 (14.5) 282 (12.0) 527 (9.7) 532 (7.5) 4385 (6.3)
Alcohol frequency intake, n (%)
 Daily or almost daily 164 (22.6) 495 (21.1) 1262 (23.2) 1606 (22.7) 16,219 (23.4)
 3–4 times a week 109 (15.0) 457 (19.4) 1149 (21.1) 1714 (24.2) 18,894 (27.3)
 Once or twice a week 142 (19.5) 574 (24.4) 1236 (22.7) 1697 (24.0) 17,673 (25.5)
 1–3 times a month 114 (15.7) 293 (12.5) 672 (12.4) 822 (11.6) 7218 (10.4)
 Special occasions only 120 (16.5) 337 (14.3) 718 (13.2) 790 (11.2) 5831 (8.4)
 Never 78 (10.7) 195 (8.3) 401 (7.4) 444 (6.3) 3430 (5.0)
Fruit and vegetables, n (%)
 Meet the recommendations 374 (51.4) 1171 (49.8) 2746 (50.5) 3684 (52.1) 38,389 (55.4)
Total fish intake, n (%)
 Meet the recommendations 396 (54.5) 1241 (52.8) 2873 (52.8) 3679 (52.0) 35,152 (50.8)
Processed meat, n (%)
 Meet the recommendations 481 (66.2) 1553 (66.1) 3611 (66.4) 4859 (68.7) 49,715 (71.8)
Red meat, n (%)
 Meet the recommendations 331 (45.5) 1115 (47.4) 2566 (47.2) 3455 (48.8) 36,479 (52.7)
Health status
BMI (kg/m2), mean (SD) 30.2 (6.0) 29.9 (5.8) 28.9 (5.3) 28.1 (5.3) 26.2 (4.2)
BMI categories, n (%) 406 (0.6)
Underweight (< 18.5 kg/m2) 6 (0.8) 7 (0.3) 15 (0.3) 30 (0.4) 29,206 (42.2)
Normal weight (18.5–24.9 kg/m2) 121 (16.6) 416 (17.7) 1247 (22.9) 1851 (26.2) 28,557 (41.2)
Overweight (25.0 to 29.9 kg/m2) 262 (36.0) 919 (39.1) 2270 (41.7) 3065 (43.3) 11,096 (16.0)
Obese (≥ 30.0 kg/m2) 338 (46.6) 1009 (42.9) 1906 (35.1) 2127 (30.1)
Reaction time (seconds) (log scale) 6.6 (0.2) 6.6 (0.3) 6.6 (0.2) 6.6 (0.2) 6.5 (0.2)
Visual memory  (log scale) 2.4 (0.7) 2.3 (0.7) 2.3 (0.7) 2.3 (0.7) 2.3 (0.7)
Morbidity count, n (%)
 None 85 (11.7) 418 (17.8) 1355 (24.9) 2072 (29.3) 30,034 (43.4)
 1 188 (25.9) 694 (29.5) 1793 (33.0) 2365 (33.4) 23,278 (33.6)
 2–3 347 (47.7) 962 (40.9) 1926 (35.4) 2239 (31.7) 14,429 (20.8)
 ≥ 4 107 (14.7) 277 (11.8) 364 (6.7) 397 (5.6) 1524 (2.2)

n, number; SD, standard deviation; PA, physical activity; CSE, certificate of secondary education; NVQ, national vocational qualification; HND, higher national diploma; HNC, higher national certificate; MET, metabolic equivalent tasks