Table 1 Characteristics of regular meat-eaters, occasional meat-eaters, pescatarians, and vegetarians in the UK Biobank at recruitment

Participants (%)

413,914

258,765 (62.5)

137,954 (33.3)

9557 (2.3)

7638 (1.8)

Cases (%)

3503 (0.8)

2045 (0.8)

1310 (0.9)

78 (0.8)

70 (0.9)

Socio-demographics

 Age, years (SD)

56.3 (8.1)

56.1 (8.1)

56.9 (8.0)

53.9 (8.0)

52.9 (7.9)

 Sex (%)

  Male

199,688 (48.2)

139,354 (53.9)

54,842 (39.8)

2811 (29.4)

2681 (35.1)

  Female

214,226 (51.8)

119,411 (46.1)

83,112 (60.2)

6746 (70.6)

4957 (64.9)

 Region (%)

  England

366,964 (88.7)

228,925 (88.5)

122,492 (88.8)

8581 (89.8)

6966 (91.2)

  Scotland

29,709 (7.2)

19,130 (7.4)

9616 (7.0)

575 (6.0)

388 (5.1)

  Wales

17,241 (4.2)

10,710 (4.1)

5846 (4.2)

401 (4.2)

284 (3.7)

 Ethnicity (%)

  White

393,251 (95.0)

247,212 (95.5)

130,780 (94.8)

8977 (93.9)

6282 (82.2)

  Black

6113 (1.5)

4109 (1.6)

1824 (1.3)

138 (1.4)

42 (0.5)

  Asian

8692 (2.1)

3970 (1.5)

3253 (2.4)

285 (3.0)

1184 (15.5)

  Mixed

2402 (0.6)

1445 (0.6)

814 (0.6)

84 (0.9)

59 (0.8)

  Other

3456 (0.8)

2029 (0.8)

1283 (0.9)

73 (0.8)

71 (0.9)

 Degree-level education (%)

141,274 (47.4)

82,529 (44.6)

49,546 (49.9)

5274 (68.6)

3925 (65.4)

 Townsend deprivation index (SD)

 − 1.4 (3.0)

 − 1.4 (3.0)

 − 1.4 (3.0)

 − 1.0 (3.1)

 − 0.7 (3.1)

 Live alone (%)

75,245 (18.2)

41,406 (16.0)

29,930 (21.7)

2287 (23.9)

1622 (21.2)

Lifestyle

 Physical activity, MET.mins/week (SD)

2951 (3879)

2984 (3993)

2885 (3689)

3038 (3572)

2895 (3690)

 Smoking status (%)

  Current

42,697 (10.3)

28,316 (10.9)

13,188 (9.6)

676 (7.1)

517 (6.8)

  Former

143,863 (34.8)

90,750 (35.1)

47,390 (34.4)

3437 (36.0)

2286 (29.9)

  Never

227,354 (54.9)

139,699 (54.0)

77,376 (56.1)

5444 (57.0)

4835 (63.3)

 Alcohol consumption (drinks/day)

1.2 (1.4)

1.3 (1.5)

1.0 (1.3)

1.0 (1.2)

0.7 (1.2)

 Nutritional supplementation (%)

206,442 (49.9)

124,388 (48.1)

72,604 (52.6)

5372 (56.2)

4078 (53.4)

Anthropometrics

 BMI, kg/m² (SD)

27.3 (4.7)

27.8 (4.8)

26.7 (4.5)

25.2 (4.2)

25.6 (4.6)

   < 18.5 (%)

2070 (0.5)

955 (0.4)

846 (0.6)

149 (1.6)

120 (1.6)

  18.5–24.9 (%)

136,230 (32.9)

74,806 (28.9)

52,611 (38.1)

5038 (52.7)

3775 (49.4)

   ≥ 25 (%)

275,614 (66.6)

183,004 (70.7)

84,497 (61.3)

4370 (45.7)

3743 (49.0)

 Height, m (SD)

169.0 (9.3)

169.7 (9.3)

167.8 (9.1)

167.4 (8.7)

167.1 (9.3)

Comorbidities

 History of diabetes (%)

36,970 (8.9)

25,162 (9.7)

10,859 (7.9)

395 (4.1)

554 (7.3)

 History of cancer (%)

42,641 (10.3)

25,788 (10.0)

15,221 (11.0)

1001 (10.5)

631 (8.3)

 History of CVD (%)

46,095 (11.1)

30,129 (11.6)

14,853 (10.8)

609 (6.4)

504 (6.6)

 History of other fractures (%)

41,196 (10.0)

25,800 (10.0)

13,560 (9.8)

1026 (10.7)

810 (10.6)

Female-specific covariates

 Menopausal status (%)

  Premenopausal

62,162 (29.0)

36,214 (30.3)

21,389 (25.7)

2516 (37.3)

2043 (41.2)

  Postmenopausal

152,064 (71.0)

83,197 (69.7)

61,723 (74.3)

4230 (62.7)

2914 (58.8)

 HRT use (%)

  Current

13,102 (6.1)

7385 (6.2)

5111 (6.1)

394 (5.8)

212 (4.3)

  Former

59,758 (27.9)

33,525 (28.1)

24,129 (29.0)

1331 (19.7)

773 (15.6)

  Never

141,366 (66.0)

78,501 (65.7)

53,872 (64.8)

5021 (74.4)

3972 (80.1)

   ≥ 1 child (%)

172,827 (80.7)

99,652 (83.5)

65,071 (78.3)

4673 (69.3)

3431 (69.2)