Chapter 5. Demographic characteristics by frequency of out of home consumption
With regards to differences in sociodemographic characteristics by OOH consumption frequency (Table 10), high OOH consumers were:
- Younger: 46% of high OOH consumers were 16 - 35 years, compared with 38% of moderate and 35% of low OOH consumers.
- More likely to be male (49% male) compared to moderate (40%) and low (35%) OOH consumers.
- More likely to be single (35%) compared with moderate (33%) and low (23%) consumers.
- More likely to be employed full time (65%) compared with moderate (58%) and low (54%) consumers.
- Slightly more likely to live in urban areas (88%) compared with low (84%) consumers.
There was not a significant difference (p>0.05) between OOH consumption groups with regards to ethnicity, number of adults or children in the household, work location (at home or out of home), or SIMD.
Table 10. Characteristics of participants who completed the web questionnaire and three 24-hour dietary recalls stratified by high, moderate, and low levels of overall out of home consumption among adults 16+ years living in Scotland, 2025 (n=1,012).
| Frequency of overall OOH consumption in the past week | ||||
High (n=378) | Moderate (n=330) | Low (n=304) | p-value† | |
| Age, years | 39(12) [18-79] | 43(14) [16- 78] | 44(14) [16- 78] | <0.001 |
| Age group | ||||
| 16-34y | 46% (175) | 38% (125) | 36% (108) | <0.001 |
| 35-54y | 41% (156) | 39% (129) | 37% (113) | |
| 55+y | 12% (47) | 23% (76) | 28% (83) | |
| Sex* | ||||
| Female | 51% (191) | 60% (196) | 65% (197) | <0.001 |
| Male | 49% (187) | 40% (133) | 35% (107) | |
| Prefer not to say | 0% (0) | 0% (1) | 0% (0) | |
| Ethnicity* | ||||
| White | 92% (349) | 96% (316) | 94% (286) | 0.4 |
| Asian or Asian British | 4% (16) | 2% (7) | 2% (5) | |
| Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 1% (4) | 1% (4) | 2% (7) | |
| Black, Black British, Caribbean or African | 1% (5) | 0.6% (2) | 1% (3) | |
| Other | 0.8% (3) | 0.3% (1) | 1% (3) | |
| Prefer not to say | 0.3% (1) | 0% (0) | 0% (0) | |
| Marital status | ||||
| Married/civil partnership/living as married | 59% (223) | 57% (187) | 69% (210) | 0.009 |
| Single | 35% (132) | 33% (109) | 23% (70) | |
| Divorced/dissolved civil partnership/separated | 5% (18) | 8% (27) | 6% (18) | |
| Widowed/surviving civil partner | 1% (5) | 2% (7) | 2% (6) | |
| Number of adults in household | 0.3 | |||
| 1 | 23% (87) | 26% (86) | 20% (60) | |
| 2 | 56% (212) | 55% (181) | 62% (188) | |
| 3 or more | 21% (79) | 19% (63) | 18% (56) | |
| Number of children in household | 0.051 | |||
| None | 60% (226) | 68% (223) | 68% (206) | |
| 1 | 20% (75) | 20% (66) | 18% (55) | |
| 2 | 18% (68) | 11% (36) | 11% (34) | |
| 3 or more | 2% (9) | 1% (5) | 3% (9) | |
| Employment status* | <0.001 | |||
| Employed full time | 65% (247) | 58% (190) | 55% (166) | |
| Employed part time | 10% (37) | 10% (34) | 13% (41) | |
| Self employed | 6% (24) | 5% (16) | 8% (25) | |
| Permanently retired from work | 4% (15) | 12% (41) | 11% (33) | |
| Looking after the home or family | 5% (18) | 5% (16) | 5% (16) | |
| At school/ In further / Higher education | 6% (22) | 3% (11) | 2% (7) | |
| Other | 4% (15) | 7% (22) | 5% (16) | |
| Work location | 0.8 | |||
| Out of home (e.g., office) | 67% (188) | 64% (143) | 67% (135) | |
| At home | 33% (94) | 36% (80) | 33% (67) | |
| Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation quintile | 0.4 | |||
| 1st (Most Deprived) | 18% (69) | 17% (55) | 16% (47) | |
| 2nd | 20% (73) | 20% (65) | 18% (53) | |
| 3rd | 20% (74) | 16% (52) | 22% (67) | |
| 4th | 21% (79) | 22% (72) | 18% (53) | |
| 5th (Least Deprived) | 21% (78) | 25% (80) | 27% (81) | |
| Unknown | 1% (5) | 2% (6) | 1% (4) | |
| Urban / Rural* | 0.04 | |||
| Large Areas | 88% (332) | 90% (296) | 83% (253) | |
| Rural Areas | 12% (44) | 10% (33) | 17% (50) | |
| Unknown | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Values are percentage (n) or mean (SD) [range]. | ||||
| *Categories with n<5 were combined for statistical testing. Sex: female versus male (prefer not to say omitted), Ethnicity: white versus non-white, †Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test, Pearson's Chi-squared test. | ||||