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. 2016 May 19;19(15):2769–2780. doi: 10.1017/S1368980016001142

Meal patterns across ten European countries – results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) calibration study

E Huseinovic 1,*, A Winkvist 1,2, N Slimani 3, MK Park 3, H Freisling 3, H Boeing 4, G Buckland 5, L Schwingshackl 4, E Weiderpass 6,7,8,9, AL Rostgaard-Hansen 10, A Tjønneland 10, A Affret 11,12, MC Boutron-Ruault 11,12, G Fagherazzi 11,12, V Katzke 13, T Kühn 13, A Naska 14,15, P Orfanos 14,15, A Trichopoulou 14,15, V Pala 16, D Palli 17, F Ricceri 18,19, M Santucci de Magistris 20, R Tumino 21, D Engeset 22, T Enget 6, G Skeie 6, A Barricarte 23,24,25, CB Bonet 5, MD Chirlaque 25,26,27, P Amiano 25,28, JR Quirós 29, MJ Sánchez 25,30, JA Dias 31, I Drake 31, M Wennberg 2, JMA Boer 32, MC Ocké 32, WMM Verschuren 32,33, C Lassale 34, A Perez-Cornago 35, E Riboli 34, H Ward 34, H Bertéus Forslund 1
PMCID: PMC10271196  PMID: 27194183

Abstract

Objective

To characterize meal patterns across ten European countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) calibration study.

Design

Cross-sectional study utilizing dietary data collected through a standardized 24 h diet recall during 1995–2000. Eleven predefined intake occasions across a 24 h period were assessed during the interview. In the present descriptive report, meal patterns were analysed in terms of daily number of intake occasions, the proportion reporting each intake occasion and the energy contributions from each intake occasion.

Setting

Twenty-seven centres across ten European countries.

Subjects

Women (64 %) and men (36 %) aged 35–74 years (n 36 020).

Results

Pronounced differences in meal patterns emerged both across centres within the same country and across different countries, with a trend for fewer intake occasions per day in Mediterranean countries compared with central and northern Europe. Differences were also found for daily energy intake provided by lunch, with 38–43 % for women and 41–45 % for men within Mediterranean countries compared with 16–27 % for women and 20–26 % for men in central and northern European countries. Likewise, a south–north gradient was found for daily energy intake from snacks, with 13–20 % (women) and 10–17 % (men) in Mediterranean countries compared with 24–34 % (women) and 23–35 % (men) in central/northern Europe.

Conclusions

We found distinct differences in meal patterns with marked diversity for intake frequency and lunch and snack consumption between Mediterranean and central/northern European countries. Monitoring of meal patterns across various cultures and populations could provide critical context to the research efforts to characterize relationships between dietary intake and health.

Keywords: Meal patterns, Intake occasion, Intake frequency, Meals, Snacks, Energy intake, Standardization, 24 h dietary recall, EPIC

The focus of human nutrition research during the last decades has been to define the relationship between nutrient composition of the diet, food choices and health; however, a growing body of evidence suggests that meal patterns may explain part of the variation in diet-related disease outcomes between individuals( 1 – 3 ) and be a significant contributor to the obesity epidemic( 4 – 6 ). Meal patterns can broadly be defined as patterned structures of food and drink intake and comprise daily frequency of meals and snacks, temporal distribution of energy intake and consistency of eating behaviours( 7 – 9 ). There is evidence that frequency of meals and snacks and temporal distribution of energy intake are linked to cultural and environmental factors( 10 , 11 ), metabolic responses( 12 , 13 ) and circadian variations in appetite-regulating hormones and digestion( 14 , 15 ). Thus, there is an urgent need to examine the relative importance of meal patterns for metabolic risk factors and concurrent health in different populations in order to guide the development of evidence-based dietary policies.

Today, few European authorities provide public health recommendations on meal patterns and although advice on regular meals exists in some countries, specific recommendations on frequency or temporal distribution of meals and snacks are rarely included( 9 ). Further, in the latest revision of the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations from 2012( 16 ), the guideline on meal pattern from 2004 proposing one to three snacks daily( 17 ) was withdrawn without comment. The absence of recommendations is likely to be due to a lack of consistency in the current literature examining the importance of meal patterns for health parameters which, in part, can be explained by several recurring methodological problems. These problems include a wide range of assessment methods used to examine meal patterns, heterogeneity in how meal patterns are analysed, lack of a standardized terminology and small study samples in specific populations( 7 , 18 ). Hence, these limitations have obstructed the research field and made interpretation and comparability between studies and countries challenging. Therefore, there is a need to map differences in meal patterns using consistent methodology and terminology in large and diverse population samples to advance the research field and promote the development of dietary guidelines.

In the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) calibration study, standardized 24 h diet recalls were collected among approximately 37 000 participants from twenty-seven centres in ten European countries( 19 ). Dietary data were consistently collected through computerized and harmonized interview software, allowing for a homogeneous comparison of dietary patterns across the European countries( 19 , 20 ). Thus, in the light of the heterogeneous methodology traditionally used to assess and analyse meal patterns, the EPIC calibration study provides a unique opportunity to examine and describe differences in meal patterns across the European countries, which will be a valuable resource and benchmark for Europe. Hence, the aim of the current descriptive report was to characterize country- and centre-specific meal patterns in terms of daily intake frequency and temporal distribution of energy intake in the EPIC calibration study.

Methods

Study population

Data presented herein were derived from the EPIC calibration study which was nested within EPIC and performed during 1995–2000. The design, rationale and methodology of EPIC and the calibration study have been described in detail previously( 19 , 21 ). In short, EPIC is a multicentre prospective cohort study investigating the association between diet, lifestyle and cancer among approximately 520 000 participants across twenty-three administrative centres in ten European countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK. EPIC participants were recruited from the general population (Bilthoven (the Netherlands), Greece, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Cambridge (UK), Spain and Italy), women undergoing breast cancer screening (Utrecht (the Netherlands), Florence (Italy)), members of a health insurance for school employees (France) and blood donors (some centres in Italy and Spain). In Oxford (UK), most of the participants (87 %) were vegetarians or vegans and/or had a special interest in health and are therefore evaluated separately (the ‘Health-conscious’ in contrast to the ‘General population’ from Cambridge). For descriptive dietary analyses, the original twenty-three administrative centres have been reclassified into twenty-seven centres according to their geographic region from which nineteen centres recruited both female and male participants and eight centres recruited women only (centres belonging to France, Norway, Utrecht (the Netherlands) and Naples (Italy)). The study began in 1992 and was approved by the ethical review boards of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (Lyon, France) and from all local recruiting institutes. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Within EPIC, information on usual individual dietary intake was assessed using a country-specific diet history or FFQ( 21 ). Thus, the EPIC calibration study was developed to correct for random and systematic errors in baseline dietary measurements and involved a single 24 h diet recall in a sub-sample of almost 37 000 participants to be used as the reference calibration method( 19 , 22 , 23 ). The sub-sample represented approximately an 8 % stratified random sample of the total EPIC cohort and was weighted according to the cumulative numbers of cancer cases expected by sex and 5-year age strata. The results in the present report are based on dietary data from the standardized 24 h diet recall.

Assessment of dietary intake

Information on dietary intake in the calibration study was collected using a standardized computer-assisted and interviewer-administered software program (EPIC-SOFT) specifically designed to standardize the 24 h diet recall across the EPIC centres. The structure and functions of the software program have been described in detail elsewhere( 19 , 20 ). In brief, the interview was structured into two steps: a first step where participants were asked to recall all foods and drinks consumed during the previous day, and a second step where they were asked to describe and quantify their intake. To standardize the memory aids used by the interviewer during the recall, eleven food consumption occasions (FCO) were predefined and asked for, and information on all foods and drinks consumed were entered as one of the following FCO according to the participant’s answer: (i) before breakfast, (ii) breakfast, (iii) during morning, (iv) before lunch, (v) lunch, (vi) after lunch, (vii) during afternoon, (viii) before dinner, (ix) dinner, (x) after dinner and (xi) during evening. These FCO were defined to chronologically cover the different occasions of consumption during the day and consider the different food habits among the participating countries. For each FCO, questions on time (per full hour) and place of consumption were asked as additional probes; thus, each FCO could be selected several times because of intakes in different hours (except for breakfast, lunch and dinner). The diet interview was conducted according to a ‘wake-up to wake-up’ approach with participants listing all foods and drinks consumed between waking up on the recall day to waking up on the interview day. However, the mean duration of the recalled day was always about 24 h across the centres and countries( 19 ). Interviews were conducted over various seasons and days of the week, however; interviews with regard to diet on Saturdays were conducted on Mondays in most countries for logistical reasons. All participants provided the diet recall through face-to-face interviews, except in Norway where a telephone interview was conducted( 24 ). Energy and nutrient intakes were calculated using the EPIC nutrient database which was developed to harmonize nutrient databases across the EPIC countries( 25 , 26 ).

Definitions used to analyse meal patterns

In the current report, all FCO are defined as separate intake occasions except for FCO consisting of water only (tap and mineral water), which were excluded. As a result, intake frequency describes the total number of intake occasions per day, which can consist of food only, drinks only or food and drinks combined. In order not to limit intake frequency to a maximum of eleven intake occasions per day, we included information on time per full hour to separate single FCO selected at numerous time points (e.g. FCO ‘during morning’ consumed at both 09.00 and 11.00 hours). No further criteria on time or energy intake were applied. Further, meals are defined as ‘breakfast’, ‘lunch’ and ‘dinner’ while all other FCO are defined as ‘snacks’. Thus, the following aspects of meal patterns are presented herein: daily intake frequency, the proportion reporting at least one intake occasion at each FCO and the absolute as well as relative energy contribution from meals and snacks.

Statistical analysis

Data are presented as mean and range, mean and standard error, and proportions stratified by sex, country and/or centre as indicated. Intake frequencies displayed in Fig. 1 are adjusted for age and weighted by season and day of the week using ANCOVA to account for over- and under-sampling across all countries. Consequently, the adjusted means represent the mean number of intake occasions per day of a population with balanced distribution of recalls over season, day of the week and the mean age of 55·3 years for women and 56·8 years for men. In addition to the main analysis, we also conducted sensitivity analysis to exclude over- and under-reporters of energy intake. This was performed by calculating the ratio of reported energy intake to estimated BMR taking age, sex, weight and height into account. The ratio of 1·55 was then used to calculate the confidence limits according to a 95 % confidence interval (lower and upper limit of <0·88 and >2·72, respectively). Ratios falling below or above the 95 % confidence limits were used to define the presence of misreporting( 27 , 28 ). Although this method has poor sensitivity for identifying invalid reports of energy intake at the individual level from a single 24 h recall( 29 ), it was considered sufficient to examine the potential influence of extreme misreporting on the overall results. Data were analysed using the statistical software package IBM SPSS Statistics Version 21.0.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

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Mean number of intake occasions per day, with their standard errors represented by vertical bars, by country and sex (Inline graphic, women; Inline graphic, men), adjusted for age and weighted by season and day of dietary recall; European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) calibration study

Results

Study participants

A total of 36 020 participants (22 985 women and 13 035 men) with dietary data from the 24 h diet recall were included in the current report after exclusion of participants aged under 35 or over 74 years due to low participation in these age groups (n 960) and individuals with incomplete information (n 14). Mean (range) age for women and men ranged from 49·0 (35·0–65·5) and 50·0 (35·2–65·2) years (Bilthoven, the Netherlands) to 61·4 (45·3–74·2) and 64·1 (50·5–74·3) years (Malmö, Sweden), respectively. Mean (range) BMI of women varied from 22·9 (14·4–37·6) (South of France, France) to 29·3 (17·9–48·8) kg/m2 (Granada, Spain) and from 23·9 (18·2–31·8) (UK Health-conscious) to 29·3 (20·9–46·2) kg/m2 (Granada, Spain) for men. Data on energy intake across the centres have been reported previously( 30 ).

Intake frequency across countries

After adjustment for age and weighting by season and day of recall, mean intake frequency for women ranged from 5·0 intake occasions/d in Greece and Italy to 7·0 intake occasions/d in the Netherlands. The corresponding numbers for men ranged from 4·9 in Italy to 6·8 in the UK General population (Fig. 1 and online supplementary material, Supplemental Table 1). There was a south–north gradient in intake frequency, with fewer intake occasions in the Mediterranean countries (Greece, Spain, Italy and France) compared with central European (Germany, the Netherlands and UK) and Nordic (Denmark, Sweden and Norway) countries. Also, in several countries there was a tendency for slightly higher intake frequency in women than in men. For snack frequency only, see Supplemental Table 2.

Table 1.

The proportion of women reporting at least one intake occasion at the specific food consumption occasions (FCO) and the average energy contribution from each FCO; European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) calibration study

Before breakfast Breakfast During morning Before lunch Lunch After lunch During afternoon Before dinner Dinner After dinner During evening
Country and centre n % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se
Greece 1368 12·9 565 45 92·8 853 19 53·9 626 24 12·8 700 56 98·6 2840 40 21·4 523 39 75·2 617 22 14·0 630 46 93·5 1647 34 21·3 664 47 1·6 612 120
Spain 1443 15·2 220 21 98·4 1104 20 48·0 598 23 19·3 577 36 99·6 3216 40 23·7 330 26 66·3 746 27 10·9 676 52 97·6 2175 35 24·5 483 26 8·1 392 38
Granada 300 25·7 232 46 98·0 1150 40 36·7 575 59 25·7 415 44 100 2828 81 25·7 265 36 70·3 688 41 14·7 782 104 95·3 1857 59 23·3 433 45 11·0 386 60
Murcia 304 17·8 165 26 99·0 1004 49 49·0 508 69 28·0 688 81 100 3378 100 49·0 340 45 49·3 895 99 11·5 640 94 96·7 2343 84 30·6 546 66 4·6 488 99
Navarra 271 2·2 211 52 98·5 1001 35 55·4 611 45 17·3 524 89 98·9 3418 85 9·2 587 139 74·5 741 45 11·4 627 99 97·4 2020 73 22·1 478 40 9·6 302 46
San Sebastian 244 16·0 270 53 97·5 1166 49 60·2 522 37 10·2 573 110 99·2 3505 99 22·1 222 33 73·8 609 50 7·4 453 82 99·2 2365 86 26·6 364 30 13·9 476 102
Asturias 324 13·6 221 34 98·8 1195 48 42·3 477 38 13·6 703 89 99·7 3040 74 11·4 409 78 65·7 850 73 9·0 748 165 99·7 2286 79 21·0 563 72 3·1 226 48
Italy 2510 21·3 193 14 93·6 900 13 50·7 411 14 9·9 504 39 99·0 3014 31 16·8 236 22 61·4 535 16 8·8 398 61 98·4 2826 30 12·2 522 35 24·9 472 22
Ragusa 137 29·2 93 17 94·2 742 53 44·5 388 69 10·9 717 219 98·5 3332 184 21·9 140 50 61·3 474 69 10·9 489 147 100 2864 143 9·5 813 395 9·5 485 228
Florence 783 23·4 182 23 94·4 916 25 51·7 487 26 7·9 521 75 98·7 2978 51 8·7 210 45 57·9 509 28 6·0 694 125 98·9 2898 58 6·9 474 64 23·8 509 48
Turin 392 26·0 374 52 89·3 803 34 50·0 355 30 9·7 314 43 99·2 2999 77 18·1 173 36 66·3 453 38 10·7 516 81 99·0 2881 76 15·1 385 63 31·9 439 42
Varese 795 10·7 158 22 97·1 995 23 47·8 345 19 11·8 511 69 99·4 2936 51 15·2 343 40 62·3 587 26 9·8 687 100 99·1 2723 47 15·8 548 47 31·7 434 30
Naples 403 31·0 116 14 89·3 814 32 57·3 446 42 9·7 564 102 98·8 3149 93 32·5 205 48 62·0 576 47 9·9 991 209 95·3 2825 83 13·6 588 100 11·9 612 91
France 4735 11·1 195 10 99·5 1424 12 36·7 300 10 10·8 692 28 99·3 3116 22 56·0 156 6 62·7 626 14 19·0 881 33 98·8 2669 21 14·3 285 19 32·7 411 14
South coast 620 12·7 168 17 99·8 1280 31 37·6 313 31 8·9 740 98 99·4 3196 60 46·8 135 11 62·4 599 38 18·7 947 113 98·5 2590 57 10·0 239 48 35·5 375 33
South 1425 8·3 194 15 99·6 1413 21 35·4 331 20 9·5 633 57 99·5 3201 40 48·4 152 10 60·8 626 23 16·2 796 53 99·0 2595 37 12·4 335 44 29·7 397 28
North-West 631 4·3 271 37 99·8 1513 30 31·4 191 21 10·6 637 70 99·7 3096 51 63·2 151 12 64·7 578 41 18·9 925 75 99·0 2565 50 17·0 247 41 33·3 412 35
North-East 2059 14·7 195 16 99·3 1448 18 39·1 304 15 12·3 729 39 99·1 3039 33 61·9 165 9 63·5 650 21 21·0 897 51 98·7 2775 32 16·1 280 26 33·8 432 21
Germany 2147 14·7 238 18 97·2 1481 19 60·1 657 18 12·7 403 31 89·5 2061 26 18·3 531 36 80·0 984 20 17·5 715 43 95·2 2164 28 29·3 781 33 48·5 704 20
Heidelberg 1087 17·0 222 24 96·8 1474 27 58·6 518 22 17·7 371 36 89·1 2125 40 25·5 534 43 76·6 892 27 20·8 716 58 94·9 2234 42 35·6 708 40 51·3 700 30
Potsdam 1060 12·4 259 29 97·6 1489 27 61·6 810 27 7·6 479 60 89·9 1997 34 10·9 523 65 83·5 1078 29 14·2 714 65 95·6 2092 38 22·9 898 56 45·6 709 25
The Netherlands 2946 14·9 198 12 91·0 1149 14 86·7 465 10 4·2 548 56 88·5 1906 18 3·4 362 42 92·2 610 12 19·1 683 28 97·6 2635 25 15·1 1031 57 87·0 838 15
Bilthoven 1076 14·8 190 20 86·2 1258 25 80·7 522 20 1·9 606 186 82·9 1912 32 2·0 366 89 90·9 736 25 14·7 633 50 97·5 2693 42 13·6 1113 122 86·6 1127 33
Utrecht 1870 15·0 203 15 93·7 1091 16 90·2 439 12 5·5 537 57 91·7 1903 21 4·2 361 48 93·0 548 14 21·7 702 34 97·6 2602 32 16·0 991 61 87·2 728 15
UK 767
General population 571 52·2 121 12 95·3 1138 27 76·2 365 22 6·7 516 120 93·9 2048 53 11·2 379 101 80·2 453 27 20·8 625 65 93·9 2632 62 15·8 376 64 80·9 603 28
Health-conscious 196 43·9 165 32 96·4 1300 52 78·1 530 82 2·0 182 88 95·9 2057 82 5·6 121 27 81·6 607 47 11·2 806 176 94·9 2678 99 9·2 215 67 75·0 891 92
Denmark 1994 8·0 252 21 97·4 1344 18 62·0 500 17 9·0 506 65 88·0 1910 28 11·6 740 67 80·3 838 21 24·6 669 30 95·6 2801 34 24·3 780 36 72·5 957 24
Copenhagen 1484 6·3 290 30 97·5 1337 21 61·9 477 19 7·3 532 102 86·6 1910 33 13·8 735 73 77·8 792 24 24·4 715 37 94·9 2812 40 30·7 796 37 66·2 925 29
Aarhus 510 12·9 199 28 97·3 1364 35 62·2 563 35 13·9 466 52 92·0 1908 51 5·1 779 160 87·6 937 40 25·1 539 46 97·8 2772 68 5·5 531 129 91·0 1016 40
Sweden 3278 11·8 354 21 98·4 1317 12 54·7 611 14 1·2 468 75 83·7 2021 22 4·4 597 57 74·8 755 14 4·6 679 55 92·3 2557 25 15·6 881 35 76·6 855 14
Malmö 1711 6·0 310 41 98·9 1324 17 52·7 626 19 0·8 583 149 82·2 2092 31 3·1 599 85 70·5 780 20 4·1 665 74 89·9 2492 36 6·8 958 80 78·0 888 20
Umeå 1567 18·3 370 24 97·9 1309 18 56·9 595 20 1·6 404 82 85·3 1947 30 5·8 595 76 79·5 731 19 5·2 692 80 94·9 2626 35 25·1 858 39 75·0 816 19
Norway 1797 18·5 226 19 96·4 1525 20 31·9 378 25 19·6 520 39 76·4 1665 26 18·5 684 41 32·9 872 39 10·4 723 57 89·8 2643 33 38·5 1152 48 77·0 1385 28
South and East 1004 19·1 241 26 96·7 1541 27 32·4 371 33 20·0 449 48 79·6 1723 36 20·1 641 50 35·1 853 51 11·6 781 77 89·2 2665 45 35·8 1198 73 75·6 1347 39
North and West 793 17·8 206 27 96·0 1505 29 31·3 388 38 19·0 614 64 72·4 1584 36 16·4 751 68 30·1 902 60 8·8 628 82 90·4 2615 50 41·9 1102 60 78·7 1428 41
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Table 2.

The proportion of men reporting at least one intake occasion at the specific food consumption occasions (FCO) and the average energy contribution from each FCO; European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) calibration study

Before breakfast Breakfast During morning Before lunch Lunch After lunch During afternoon Before dinner Dinner After dinner During evening
Country and centre n % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se % kJ se
Greece 1324 15·8 659 52 92·4 987 28 55·7 844 43 14·5 908 76 98·6 4085 55 20·4 461 38 72·2 475 25 15·4 844 79 95·5 2689 54 23·7 729 51 2·1 719 188
Spain 1777 10·4 347 26 91·0 1288 25 50·8 1154 36 23·4 958 45 99·5 4816 46 19·9 383 26 57·2 833 28 18·2 977 52 97·8 3457 45 21·0 625 33 8·7 599 45
Granada 214 23·8 364 44 97·7 1447 68 38·3 868 87 34·1 1044 98 99·1 4317 107 25·7 318 61 60·7 768 63 26·2 1185 137 99·1 2927 119 18·7 476 56 8·4 632 143
Murcia 243 14·8 311 50 93·8 1357 84 43·2 1489 135 30·0 1126 120 100 4554 135 45·7 417 61 37·0 834 93 19·8 1110 146 96·7 3366 133 27·2 819 121 5·3 513 132
Navarra 444 1·8 397 141 86·0 1067 37 60·1 1366 71 21·6 898 106 99·5 4737 76 10·8 459 56 54·5 841 55 18·7 720 63 96·4 3388 92 17·3 607 70 9·5 682 92
San Sebastian 490 8·4 303 52 90·2 1203 45 58·8 1125 66 17·1 811 82 99·2 5293 95 16·7 332 34 65·3 805 51 15·5 975 121 98·6 3819 89 22·2 558 51 12·7 535 67
Asturias 386 12·4 386 65 92·2 1494 54 41·7 815 59 23·3 952 96 99·7 4744 107 15·0 386 54 60·9 906 62 15·5 1035 121 98·4 3426 88 21·0 645 61 4·9 622 118
Italy* 1442 17·7 456 41 89·9 1082 24 48·9 422 21 8·3 519 59 98·8 4541 55 17·9 244 26 52·8 477 23 9·3 658 97 98·9 4454 57 17·2 607 46 30·1 687 44
Ragusa 168 28·6 240 67 86·9 1071 71 48·2 501 79 10·7 455 110 99·4 4799 174 22·6 250 74 50·0 330 60 10·7 1431 594 98·8 4192 178 14·9 941 194 8·3 1163 448
Florence 271 16·2 222 80 93·7 1221 60 50·2 542 52 10·3 348 83 98·9 4292 120 11·8 207 116 52·4 503 51 7·0 535 93 98·5 4697 146 7·7 535 173 24·0 696 126
Turin 676 21·3 632 61 86·1 952 33 47·9 410 29 6·1 586 106 98·4 4462 83 17·6 239 32 54·6 470 33 9·6 492 74 99·0 4441 77 17·8 461 52 36·1 676 58
Varese 327 5·8 205 36 96·3 1214 47 50·2 317 39 10·1 616 138 99·1 4774 104 21·1 266 47 50·8 547 50 9·8 632 151 99·1 4416 120 25·1 737 87 33·9 649 70
Naples 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
France* 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
South coast 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
South 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
North-West 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
North-East 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Germany 2267 11·9 375 31 97·0 2122 26 57·2 905 26 9·2 511 45 87·6 2655 31 15·1 539 36 75·0 1123 26 15·6 835 47 95·4 3189 36 28·6 968 35 59·1 1001 21
Heidelberg 1034 15·5 365 36 95·2 1996 39 56·3 721 33 14·0 459 56 87·7 2711 50 22·1 523 46 69·6 1004 40 21·7 747 52 94·5 3193 56 41·6 869 41 59·9 962 30
Potsdam 1233 8·9 389 56 98·5 2225 35 57·9 1081 39 5·1 629 71 87·4 2608 39 9·2 572 60 79·6 1217 34 10·5 988 91 96·1 3185 47 17·8 1161 65 58·5 1039 29
The Netherlands* 1020 14·7 305 30 84·5 1749 36 80·6 777 35 1·5 851 224 82·1 2787 48 2·5 666 170 87·4 864 35 15·8 751 60 95·9 3731 59 15·9 1304 122 84·8 1692 55
Bilthoven 1020 14·7 305 30 84·5 1749 36 80·6 777 35 1·5 851 224 82·1 2787 48 2·5 666 170 87·4 864 35 15·8 751 60 95·9 3731 59 15·9 1304 122 84·8 1692 55
Utrecht 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
UK 519
General population 406 43·3 172 20 95·3 1618 49 80·0 569 43 6·9 688 177 92·1 2808 82 10·6 424 117 72·4 658 58 18·7 807 97 91·4 3486 87 16·5 667 118 84·7 914 53
Health-conscious 113 38·9 179 57 96·5 1731 98 70·8 466 60 1·8 215 93 92·0 2640 147 4·4 641 517 75·2 925 127 6·2 375 107 92·0 3450 171 3·5 153 76 75·2 1142 128
Denmark 1923 7·2 344 44 96·9 1852 25 67·0 641 23 10·1 491 39 86·1 2916 40 14·2 609 46 79·0 901 29 29·4 848 34 95·9 3873 46 23·1 1008 55 78·1 1204 28
Copenhagen 1356 5·5 403 74 97·1 1829 31 67·6 616 27 8·3 527 55 85·0 2930 47 17·4 625 52 74·9 895 39 30·6 865 39 95·4 3897 56 29·7 1035 59 73·2 1201 37
Aarhus 567 11·1 275 36 96·5 1908 43 65·6 699 42 14·6 442 53 88·7 2882 73 6·7 510 93 88·9 911 40 26·5 802 65 97·2 3817 81 7·4 751 123 89·8 1209 43
Sweden 2763 10·1 470 29 98·3 1820 19 54·7 800 21 1·0 450 90 82·9 2741 31 3·6 719 105 69·9 849 19 3·9 789 71 93·2 3452 34 15·4 992 46 77·7 1049 19
Malmö 1421 4·4 378 58 98·8 1888 27 51·6 883 33 1·2 535 128 81·1 2692 45 2·0 734 194 64·0 827 27 3·2 922 119 90·4 3251 49 5·5 863 101 80·3 1021 25
Umeå 1342 16·2 496 33 97·7 1746 28 57·9 724 27 0·8 319 113 84·8 2790 41 5·4 713 126 76·0 869 25 4·7 692 87 96·1 3652 48 25·9 1021 51 75·0 1082 28
Norway* 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
South and East 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
North and West 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
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*

Eight centres recruited women only (centres belonging to France, Norway, the Netherlands (Utrecht) and Italy (Naples)).

Intake occasions across countries and centres

Tables 1 and 2 give the proportion of women and men reporting at least one intake occasion at the eleven different FCO and the mean energy contribution from each FCO. As displayed in Tables 1 and 2, differences in meal patterns were found both across centres within the same country and across different countries, with the greatest heterogeneity for snack consumption. For example, the proportion of women having an intake occasion during the morning ranged from 31 % in the north and west of Norway to 90 % in Utrecht (the Netherlands). Further, the same discrepancy was seen during the afternoon with 30 % of women in the north and west of Norway and 93 % of women in Utrecht (the Netherlands) reporting an intake occasion. The corresponding numbers for men ranged from 38 % in Granada (Spain) to approximately 80 % in Bilthoven (the Netherlands) and the UK General population for intake occasions during the morning, and from 37 % in Murcia (Spain) to 89 % in Aarhus (Denmark) for intake occasions during the afternoon. Likewise, a south–north gradient appeared for intake occasions during the evening, with 2–33 % of women in Mediterranean countries, 49–87 % of women in central European countries and 73–77 % of women in Nordic countries reporting an intake occasion. The same was revealed for men reporting an intake occasion during the evening, with 2–30 %, 59–85 % and 78 % in Mediterranean, central European and Nordic countries, respectively. As for main meals, the majority of participants across all countries reported consumption of breakfast (range 85–100 %), lunch (range 76–100 %) and dinner (range 90–99 %); however, participants in central and northern European countries reported lunch to a somewhat lesser degree than did those in Mediterranean countries.

Likewise, geographical differences in meal patterns were also found within countries. In Spain, 37–38 % of women and men in Granada v. 60 % of women and men in San Sebastian reported an intake occasion during the morning. Moreover, 8–10 % of Italian women and men in Ragusa reported an intake occasion during the evening compared with 32–36 % in Turin. Finally, in Denmark, 66 % of women in Copenhagen reported an intake occasion during the evening compared with 91 % in Aarhus and this difference was also evident among Danish men (73 % v. 90 %, respectively).

Energy contribution of meals and snacks

Figures 2(a) and (b) (and online supplementary material, Supplemental Table 3) display the proportion of daily energy intake consumed as meals and snacks across countries. Breakfast contributed 11–19 % and 9–20 % of daily energy intake among women and men, respectively, across all countries. However, greater differences were revealed for lunch, which provided respectively 38–43 % and 41–45 % of daily energy intake for women and men within Mediterranean countries compared with 16–27 % and 20–26 % for women and men in central European and Nordic countries. Less pronounced differences were observed for dinner, which provided 24–37 % and 29–40 % of daily energy intake among women and men across all countries. Further, heterogeneity was also found for energy contribution of snacks with Mediterranean countries consuming 13–20 % (women) and 10–17 % (men) of daily energy intake as snacks while the corresponding numbers were 24–34 % (women) and 23–35 % (men) in central and northern European countries. Figure 3 illustrates the overall differences in proportional distribution of daily energy intake across meals and snacks between Mediterranean, central European and Nordic countries with women and men combined as no major differences were found between sexes.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

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Proportion of daily energy intake consumed as breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks by country (Inline graphic, Greece; Inline graphic, Spain; Inline graphic, Italy; Inline graphic, France; Inline graphic, Germany; Inline graphic, the Netherlands; Inline graphic, UK – General population; Inline graphic, UK – Health conscious; Inline graphic, Denmark; Inline graphic, Sweden; Inline graphic, Norway) and sex: (a) women and (b) men; European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) calibration study

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3

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The proportion of daily energy intake consumed as breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in (a) Mediterranean, (b) central European and (c) Nordic countries for women and men combined; European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) calibration study

Sensitivity analysis

In general, mean energy intake from each intake occasion and the proportion reporting an intake occasion at each FCO increased slightly for both women and men after the exclusion of misreporters (see online supplementary material, Supplemental Tables 4 and 5). Similarly, mean intake frequency was increased by 0–0·2 intake occasions/d for women and 0–0·1 intake occasions/d for men across all countries after exclusion of misreporters.

Discussion

In the present report we aimed to characterize and compare meal patterns across ten European countries participating in the EPIC calibration study, taking advantage of the harmonized and detailed data collection across all the regions. We found pronounced geographical differences in meal structures both across countries and across centres within the same country. In general, a trend emerged that lunch provided a greater proportion of total energy intake in Mediterranean countries compared with central and northern European countries. In contrast, greater proportions of participants in central and northern countries reported intake occasions in between main meals and larger energy contributions of snacks, compared with participants in Mediterranean countries.

There is currently a discussion whether regular and socially shared meals are becoming increasingly rare and if grazing meal patterns, characterized by frequent snacking, are taking the place of traditional meals and dissolving collective norms guiding temporal eating( 31 , 32 ). In the present report, we examined meal patterns during 1995–2000 in an adult European population aged 35–74 years and found that most countries still shared uniformity in the three-meal-a-day pattern at that time, with a high proportion reporting consumption of breakfast, lunch and dinner across all countries, even though lunch was less frequently reported in Nordic and central European countries than in Mediterranean countries. This three-meal continuity has also been reported in more recent studies in Nordic( 31 ), French( 32 – 34 ) and Flemish( 35 ) populations. However, for most central and northern countries, snacks contributed more to daily energy intake than did breakfast or lunch and in some countries snacks contributed nearly as much energy as did dinner. Still, for Mediterranean countries in general and for Italy and France in particular, snacks contributed significantly less energy than did lunch and dinner, indicating a preserved tradition in these regions for main meals to provide the majority of daily energy intake. Nevertheless, as these data were collected 15–20 years ago, more recent shifts in meal patterns remain to be explored.

Although we found the three-meal pattern to be widespread across Europe, we demonstrated different distributions of energy intake across the main meals. For example, a south–north gradient was found for lunch with Mediterranean countries consuming a greater proportion of their daily energy intake at lunch compared with central and northern countries. This gradient was also reported in the SENECA study (Survey in Europe on Nutrition and the Elderly; a Concerted Action), where meal patterns among 2600 elderly participants from twelve European countries were assessed in 1988–1989( 36 , 37 ). In that study, lunch contributed 45–48 % of daily energy intake in Italy and France compared with 21–33 % in northern and central Europe. The authors also found that total energy intake among women was higher in centres where energy contribution of lunch was low( 36 ). As studies have reported evening meals to be less satiating than morning meals and glucose tolerance and insulin secretion to decrease over the day( 9 , 14 , 38 ), consuming a high proportion of total energy intake at lunch has been suggested to compose an additional positive component of the Mediterranean diet when looking beyond the solely nutritive aspects( 39 ). Further, as previous research has found snacking and high intake frequency to be positively associated with energy intake and overweight and obesity( 4 , 6 ), absence of snacking might be yet another favourable component of the Mediterranean diet. However, aspects such as meal times and timing of snacks need to be further explored in order to fully characterize differences in temporal distribution of energy intake across Europe. In sum, future research should consider if the beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet are possibly also mediated by a meal pattern with a greater energy contribution from lunch and less from snacking by widening the scope of dietary surveys to include assessment of meal structures and temporal distribution of energy intake.

We reported high intake frequency in northern and central Europe, with participants in the UK and the Netherlands consuming an average of 6–7 intake occasions/d. Prominent snacking among the Dutch was also reported in the SENECA study where 31–32 % of daily energy intake was derived from snacks and in the latest Dutch national food consumption survey from 2007–2010 (30 % of daily energy intake from snacks)( 40 ), similar to the 34–35 % in the EPIC cohort. Further, the SENECA study also found a low energy contribution of snacks among Mediterranean countries at 6–8 % in France and Italy( 36 , 37 ) compared with 10–13 % in the EPIC cohort. The consequences of different intake frequencies are a hot topic within the research field, dividing scientists into opposing opinions. On one hand, snacks have been reported to be less nutritive, more energy dense and more motivated by social and/or cultural drivers than by biological energy needs compared with meals( 4 , 41 ). Hence, this would suggest that transition to grazing meal patterns might have negative health consequences given the risk for overconsumption of energy intake. On the other hand, snacks have the potential to increase the opportunity for healthy, nutrient-dense foods such as fruit and fibre-rich grains( 42 – 44 ). In addition, gender differences have been suggested such that women are more likely to make healthier food choices while men more often choose sweets, savouries and sugar-sweetened drinks( 42 ). Also, as energy compensation for drinks has been demonstrated to be weak in comparison to solid foods( 45 , 46 ), the effect of drinks consumed as snacks warrants further exploration. Thus, there is a need to characterize not only the frequency but also the quality of snacks, especially in countries and populations where people derive high percentages of energy through snacks, as snacks have the potential to improve overall dietary intake and impact health.

The strengths of the present report include a large and diverse population sample across several European countries concurrent with standardized and homogeneous methodology which enabled an objective assessment and comparison of meal patterns across a broad geographical span. However, there are some limitations to the report. First, populations included in EPIC are not nationally representative samples of the European general population( 19 ) and younger adults may have different meal patterns from those reported here. Nevertheless, data may still reveal significant geographical differences in meal pattern due to the broad range of participating countries and harmonized methodology used. Second, one 24 h diet recall does not provide data at the individual level; however, due to the large sample size, trends in proportions consuming various intake occasions across the day should still appear. Third, under-reporting of energy intake is a limitation within all self-reported dietary assessments and a previous EPIC report found that under-reporting was more prevalent among women and participants with overweight and obesity( 47 ). Thus, as under-reporting has been reported to affect both energy intake and intake occasions( 8 , 48 ), intake frequencies and proportions are likely to be underestimated as demonstrated by the slight increase when misreporters were excluded in the sensitivity analysis. Fourth, as the predefined FCO enabled only three main meals to be reported, foods considered to be consumed as a main meal beyond the three predefined meals have been classified as snacks herein. Thus, this could influence the interpretation of meal and snack patterns in countries where traditionally four meals are considered ‘main meals’ as for example in Norway (breakfast, lunch, dinner and evening meal). Also, as no predefined time or energy content criteria for each FCO were provided to participants, classification of FCO may thus not be strictly objective. However, the lack of studies using a common approach in European settings strengthens the rationale of this work and its potential to provide more guidance to improve future research. Finally, considering these data are now 15–20 years old, differences in meal patterns reported here need to be confirmed in more recent data; still, the present study provides a valuable resource and benchmark for studying trends in Europe.

Conclusion

We examined meal patterns in a large-scale study across ten European countries. We found distinct differences in meal patterns with marked diversity for intake frequency and lunch and snack consumption between Mediterranean and central/northern European countries. Monitoring of meal patterns, currently and over time, across various cultures and populations could provide critical context to research efforts to characterize the relationships between dietary intake and health.

Acknowledgements

Financial support: The coordination of EPIC is financially supported by the European Commission (DG-SANCO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The national cohorts are supported by Danish Cancer Society (Denmark); Ligue Contre le Cancer, Institut Gustave Roussy, Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) (France); German Cancer Aid, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Deutsche Krebshilfe, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum and Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany); the Hellenic Health Foundation (Greece); Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro–AIRC–Italy and National Research Council (Italy); Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS), Netherlands Cancer Registry (NKR), LK Research Funds, Dutch Prevention Funds, Dutch ZON (Zorg Onderzoek Nederland), World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), Statistics Netherlands (The Netherlands); ERC-2009-AdG 232997 and Nordforsk, Nordic Centre of Excellence programme on Food, Nutrition and Health (Norway); Health Research Fund (FIS), PI13/00061 to Granada, PI13/01162 to EPIC-Murcia, Regional Governments of Andalucía, Asturias, Basque Country, Murcia and Navarra, ISCIII RETIC (RD06/0020) (Spain); Swedish Cancer Society, Swedish Research Council and County Councils of Skåne and Västerbotten (Sweden); Cancer Research UK (14136 to EPIC-Norfolk; C570/A16491 and C8221/A19170 to EPIC-Oxford), Medical Research Council (1000143 to EPIC-Norfolk, MR/M012190/1 to EPIC-Oxford) (United Kingdom). The funders had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this article. For information on how to submit an application for gaining access to EPIC data and/or biospecimens, please follow the instructions at http://epic.iarc.fr/access/index.php. Conflict of interest: None. Authorship: A.W. and H.B.F. initiated the study. E.H., A.W. and H.B.F. formulated the research questions, performed the analysis and wrote the manuscript taking into account comments from all co-authors. N.S., M.K. P., H.F., H.B., G.B., L.S. and E.W. contributed to the conception, analysis and interpretation of the data and drafting of the manuscript. All other co-authors were local EPIC collaborators involved in the collection of dietary data and other data. All authors read and approved the final version. Ethics of human subject participation: The study was approved by the ethical review boards of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (Lyon, France) and from all local recruiting institutes. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Supplementary material

For supplementary material accompanying this paper visit https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980016001142.

S1368980016001142sup001.docx (90.1KB, docx)

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