EWCB 2022: Demographic analysis

Key demographic variable analysis 

All analysis mentioned below is significant to the 95% level unless stated otherwise. Therefore, questions where no significant differences are found are not included. Questions and possible answers within questions with an insufficient base for reliable significance testing are also omitted from the demographic variable analysis.  

Where the question is an agreement scale, ‘agree’ is the sum of strongly agree and tend to agree. 

All demographic analysis can be found in the data tables that can be requested. Below is a summary of the key demographic findings. 

Gender 

Women (75%) were more likely to say they actively seek out healthier options when shopping compared to men (62%). 

Women were also more likely to look at information on the front of the pack to find out nutritional information than men (38% versus 29%) and more likely to say they use the traffic light labelling system to find out nutritional information in comparison to men (35% versus 23%).  

Nearly half of men (48%) report that they do not try to find out the nutritional information on products and 28% of women do not try to find out the nutritional information either.  

Women (54%) were more likely than men (36%) to report having used the traffic light label when shopping for food.  

Women were also more likely than men to report having used the traffic light label to look at calories (56% versus 33%). 

Men (25%) were more likely than women (17%) to say that they would not like to see healthier products across a range of food settings (restaurants/pubs, vending machines, staff restaurants etc). 

Male participants (32%) were more likely to report not wanting to see reformulated food or smaller portion sizes than female participants (18%). 

Males 

Men aged between 18-34 (25%) and 35-54 (23%) were more likely to have stated the correct recommended daily calorie intake (2,500) for their gender than those aged 55 and over (6%). 

Male participants from a higher socio-economic group (25%) were more likely to have stated the correct recommended daily calorie intake (2,500) for their gender than those from a lower socio-economic group (13%). 

Age 

Participants aged between 18-24 (15%) and 35-54 (23%) were more likely to report shopping for food online from a supermarket in comparison to those aged 55 and over (4%).  

Those aged between 18–34 (55%) were more likely than those aged 55 and over (35%) to report using the traffic light label to look at calories next to the label. 

Those aged between 18-34 (43%) and 35-54 (41%) were more likely than those aged 55 and over (26%) to say they would like to see healthier products in food outlets in leisure facilities. These age groups were also more likely to report that they would like to see healthier products in vending machines (18-34, 35%; 35-54, 30%; 55 and over, 21%). 

Participants aged between 35-54 (17%) were more likely to report that they would like to see healthier products in staff restaurants than those aged 55 and over (9%). 

Participants aged between 18-34 (39%) and 35-54 (36%) were more likely to report having noticed calories shown on food menus in fast food restaurants than those aged 55 and over (11%). 

Older participants aged 55 and over (30%) were more likely to report not wanting to see reformulated food or smaller portion sizes than those aged 35-54 (21%). 

Socio-economic group 

Those from a higher socio-economic group (43%) were more likely to report that they look at information on the front of the pack to find out nutritional information than those from a lower socio-economic group (26%). 

They were also more likely to report that they use the traffic light labelling system to find out nutritional information in comparison to those from a lower socio-economic group (38% versus 22%).  

Those from a lower socio-economic group (46%) were less likely than those from a higher socio-economic group to say they try to find out nutritional information of products (27%). 

Participants from a higher socio-economic group (52%) were more likely than those from a lower socio-economic group (40%) to report having used the traffic light label when shopping for food. 

They were also more likely to say they have used the traffic light label to look at calories next to the label (57% versus 37%).  

Those from a higher socio-economic group (26%) were more likely to say they find it easy to choose healthier food and meals when eating in a staff restaurant at work compared to those from a lower socio-economic group (12%). 

Those from a higher socio-economic group (37%) were more likely than those from a lower socio-economic group (29%) to report that they would like to see healthier products in restaurants and/or pubs. 

They were also more likely to have noticed calories shown on food menus in fast food restaurants (34% versus 24%). 

Participants from a lower socio-economic group (29%) were more likely to report not wanting to see reformulated food or smaller portion sizes than those from a higher socio-economic group (20%).