Table 1 Baseline characteristics across diet groups in UK Biobank

Number of participants

247,571

205,385

10,696

8685

Age at recruitment—years, mean (SD)

56.0 (8.2)

56.9 (8.0)

54.0 (8.0)

53.0 (7.9)

Sex—female

114,849 (46.4%)

126,165 (61.4%)

7664 (71.7%)

5722 (65.9%)

BMI—kg/m², mean (SD)

27.9 (4.9)

27.0 (4.7)

25.3 (4.3)

25.7 (4.7)

Male height—cm, mean (SD)

175.7 (6.8)

175.4 (6.9)

176.4 (6.9)

175.5 (7.2)

Female height—cm, mean (SD)

162.4 (6.3)

162.5 (6.3)

163.5 (6.4)

162.1 (6.8)

Physical activity

 Low

72,811 (29.4%)

59,752 (29.1%)

2430 (22.7%)

2371 (27.3%)

 Moderate

116,591 (47.1%)

98,692 (48.1%)

5710 (53.4%)

4346 (50.0%)

 High

48,012 (19.4%)

38,704 (18.8%)

2273 (21.3%)

1690 (19.5%)

Townsend deprivation index

 Q1—Most affluent

51,117 (20.6%)

40,433 (19.7%)

1777 (16.6%)

1258 (14.5%)

 Q5—Most deprived

48,227 (19.5%)

41,627 (20.3%)

2385 (22.3%)

2216 (25.5%)

Ethnicity

 White

233,959 (94.5%)

193,033 (94.0%)

9922 (92.8%)

6903 (79.5%)

 Mixed other

3576 (1.4%)

3294 (1.6%)

172 (1.6%)

152 (1.8%)

 Asian or British Asian

4114 (1.7%)

5054 (2.5%)

369 (3.4%)

1524 (17.5%)

 Black or Black British

4218 (1.7%)

3295 (1.6%)

167 (1.6%)

48 (0.6%)

Education

 National exam at 16 years of age

41,764 (16.9%)

34,271 (16.7%)

1180 (11.0%)

1099 (12.7%)

 National exam at 17-18 years of age

13,750 (5.6%)

10,805 (5.3%)

578 (5.4%)

551 (6.3%)

 Degree or college

146,214 (59.1%)

119,791 (58.3%)

8015 (74.9%)

6109 (70.3%)

Employment

 In paid employment

146,078 (59.0%)

115,579 (56.3%)

7338 (68.6%)

6065 (69.8%)

 Retired

77,483 (31.3%)

70,640 (34.4%)

2341 (21.9%)

1582 (18.2%)

 Not in paid employment

21,068 (8.5%)

17,028 (8.3%)

877 (8.2%)

921 (10.6%)

Living with a partner—yes

187,545 (75.8%)

141,711 (69.0%)

6930 (64.8%)

5771 (66.4%)

Smoking status

 Never

132,294 (53.4%)

114,385 (55.7%)

6075 (56.8%)

5561 (64.0%)

 Previous

85,319 (34.5%)

69,642 (33.9%)

3800 (35.5%)

2480 (28.6%)

 Light smoker < 15 cig/day

7594 (3.1%)

6299 (3.1%)

290 (2.7%)

210 (2.4%)

 Medium smoker 15-29 cig/day

10,101 (4.1%)

6644 (3.2%)

157 (1.5%)

139 (1.6%)

 Heavy smoker 30+ cig/day

10,418 (4.2%)

7432 (3.6%)

333 (3.1%)

252 (2.9%)

Alcohol intake g/day, mean (SD)

19.9 (21.3)

14.9 (16.6)

13.6 (14.5)

13.0 (16.1)

Diabetic—yes

15,603 (6.3%)

10,748 (5.2%)

290 (2.7%)

465 (5.4%)

Prostate-specific antigen test reported at baseline or in follow-up—yes, male only

51,555 (38.8%)

33,394 (42.2%)

1125 (37.1%)

929 (31.4%)

Female specific covariates

Age at menarche—years, mean (SD)

12.6 (2.8)

12.5 (2.9)

12.5 (2.9)

12.4 (3.3)

Menopausal status

 Premenopausal

24,939 (21.7%)

23,360 (18.5%)

2232 (29.1%)

1843 (32.2%)

 Postmenopausal

78,626 (68.5%)

92,413 (73.2%)

4717 (61.5%)

3342 (58.4%)

Menopausal hormone therapy use

 Never

70,830 (61.7%)

76,747 (60.8%)

5468 (71.3%)

4386 (76.7%)

 Former

34,149 (29.7%)

38,960 (30.9%)

1590 (20.7%)

9,66 (16.9%)

 Current

8993 (7.8%)

9988 (7.9%)

584 (7.6%)

320 (5.6%)

Parity

 Nulliparous

17,671 (15.4%)

25,569 (20.3%)

2330 (30.4%)

1736 (30.3%)

 1-2 children

67,306 (58.6%)

70,915 (56.2%)

3910 (51.0%)

2770 (48.4%)

 3+ children

29,343 (25.5%)

29,526 (23.4%)

1415 (18.5%)

1203 (21.0%)

Age at first birth—years, mean (SD)

25.4 (4.6)

25.2 (4.6)

26.4 (5.1)

26.0 (4.9)