1.3.3     Main interview

Information was collected at both the household and individual level. The content of the individual level interviews for all participants is summarised below. The topics a participant was asked depended both on their age and the sample type to which their address had been allocated. The age criteria for each topic are included in brackets following the topic name.

Participants aged 16 and above were also invited to complete an online recall using Intake24 (https://intake24.org/).  Respondents who consented to take part in Intake24 were invited to undertake dietary recalls on two separate occasions where they input details of their food and beverage consumption for the previous day. Two recalls, rather than a single recall, were requested to get a better understanding of an individual’s typical diet.

Participants were asked to provide verbal consent for Intake24, an online 24-hour dietary tool, and this was recorded in CAPI. Respondents were also given a leaflet with some key information about Intake24. Those who agreed were invited to complete two dietary recalls, either independently or via a phone call with the NatCen Telephone Unit. Further information about Intake24 is provided in sections 1.4.3, 1.6.5 and in chapter 2 of this report.              

No dietary data was collected for children in 2024 due to a separate Intake24 survey being undertaken with children on behalf of Food Standards Scotland in 2023/2024. Information on child fruit and vegetable consumption will be included in the 2025 survey.

Four different self-completion booklets were administered depending on the age of the participant. The booklet for young adults aged 16-17 included questions on smoking and drinking behaviour (instead of these being asked as part of the CAPI interview) and interviewers also had the option of administering this young adults’ self-completion to those aged 18-19 if they felt that it would be more appropriate.

Standardised interviewer-administered height and weight measurements were included as part of in-home interviews in 2024. For interviews conducted by telephone, no height and weight measurements or biological measures could be taken. Participants were asked to estimate their own height and weight during these interviews.

As highlighted previously, a sub-sample (around 33%) of main sample addresses, adults (aged 16 and over) were selected to complete the biological module. Since 2012, specially trained interviewers have been collecting the measurements and samples which were collected by nurses in earlier years (1995 to 2011). This was not possible in 2021 when interviews were administered by telephone, therefore, no objective biological measurements were collected that year. The measurements were reintroduced gradually in 2022 as the panel of suitably trained and accredited interviewers was built back up again.

A significant number of changes were made to the questionnaire content in advance of the 2024 survey based on the content review that took place in Summer 2022, with a summary of responses published in September 2024[2].

The full wording of all questions used in 2024 can be found in the questionnaire documentation included in the supporting documents section of the technical report. 

References and notes