Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study population, overall and by categories reflecting adherence to the EAT-Lancet reference diet

Age at recruitment, mean (SD)

60.06 (6.98)

60.09 (7.06)

60.01 (6.99)

60.06 (6.83)

Sex- female, %

63.61

60.78

63.52

68.66

Education, %

 O levels/GCSEs/CSEs or equivalent

24.34

24.51

24.79

23.63

 A levels/AS levels/NVQ/HND/HNC or equivalent

14.82

14.89

14.86

14.66

 College or University degree or Other professional qualifications

39.17

39.93

38.27

38.60

 Prefer not to answer/missing

21.60

20.66

22.08

23.11

Smoking status, %

 Never smokers

51.23

50.59

51.10

52.46

 Former smokers

39.47

39.42

39.59

39.47

 Current smokers

8.85

9.62

8.80

7.54

 Prefer not to answer/missing

0.45

0.37

0.51

0.53

Body mass index, %

 ≤ 18.5 kg/m²

0.64

0.68

0.72

0.50

 18.5–24.9 kg/m²

32.18

32.72

32.07

31.33

 25.0–29.9 kg/m²

41.67

40.85

41.41

43.31

 ≥ 30 kg/m²

25.05

25.29

25.34

24.39

 Missing

0.46

0.45

0.46

0.47

Alcohol intake status, %

 Never drinkers

4.40

4.11

4.08

5.19

 Former drinkers

4.20

3.64

4.21

5.18

 Current drinkers

91.31

92.19

91.63

89.48

 Prefer not to answer/missing

0.09

0.07

0.08

0.14

Physical activity, %

 Less than 75 min per week

33.68

34.07

34.44

32.35

 75–150 min per week

13.04

12.60

13.15

13.73

 150 min or more per week

47.28

47.74

46.08

47.51

 Prefer not to answer/missing

6.00

5.59

6.33

6.41