Empirically Derived Dietary Patterns in UK Adults Are Associated with Sociodemographic Characteristics, Lifestyle, and Diet Quality

The aim of this study was to examine empirical dietary patterns in UK adults and their association with sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, self-reported nutrient intake, nutrient biomarkers, and the Nutrient-based Diet Quality Score (NDQS) using National Diet and Nutrition Survey data 2008–2012 (n = 2083; mean age 49 years; 43.3% male). Four patterns explained 13.6% of the total variance: ‘Snacks, fast food, fizzy drinks’ (SFFFD), ‘Fruit, vegetables, oily fish’ (FVOF), ‘Meat, potatoes, beer’ (MPB), and ‘Sugary foods, dairy’ (SFD). ‘SFFFD’ was associated positively with: being male; smoking; body mass index (BMI); urinary sodium; intake of non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES), fat and starch; and negatively with: age; plasma carotenoids; and NDQS. ‘FVOF’ was associated positively with: being non-white; age; income; socioeconomic classification (National Statistics Socio-economic Classifications; NSSEC); plasma carotenoids; intake of non-starch polysaccharides and polyunsaturated fatty acids. It was negatively associated with: being male, smoking, BMI, urinary sodium, intake of saturated fat; and NMES and NDQS. Whilst the patterns explained only 13.6% of the total variance, they were associated with self-reported nutrient intake, biomarkers of nutrient intake, sociodemographic and lifestyle variables, and the NDQS. These findings provide support for dietary patterns analyses as a means of exploring dietary intake in the UK population to inform public health nutrition policy and guidance.