Table 3.

Comparative analysis of macro and micronutrient composition of the 2019 28-day menu provision and UK Government dietary recommendations for young males aged 15–18 years old

Dietary component	Mean	SD	GDR target *	Mean difference	Sig.
Energy (kcal)	2903 ‡	240	2500	403	<0.01 b
Macronutrients
Carbohydrates (g)	406 ‡	37	333	73	<0.01 b
Free sugars (g)	61 ‡	14	33 †	28	<0.01 b
Fat (g)	102	11	97 †	5	<0.01 a
Monounsaturated fat (g)	33	4	36	–3	<0.01 a
Polyunsaturated fat (g)	12 ‡	2	18	–6	<0.01 b
Saturated fat (g)	38	6	31 †	7	<0.01 a
Fibre (g)	34	3	30	4	<0.01 a
Protein (g)	83.1 ‡	6.4	55.2	27.9	<0.01 b
Salt (g)	10	2	6 †	4	<0.01 a
Vitamins
Folates (μg)	321	28	200	121	<0.01 a
Niacin (mg)	39.8 ‡	2.9	16.5	23.3	<0.01 b
Riboflavin (mg)	2.1	0.3	1.3	0.8	<0.01 a
Thiamine (mg)	2.4	0.3	1	1.4	<0.01 a
Vitamin A (μg)	937 ‡	355	700	237	<0.01 b
Vitamin B12 (μg)	3.7 ‡	0.9	1.5	2.2	<0.01 b
Vitamin B6 (mg)	2.3	0.2	1.5	0.8	<0.01 a
Vitamin C (mg)	103 ‡	18	40	63	<0.01 b
Vitamin D (μg)	2 ‡	1	10	–8	<0.01 b
Minerals
Calcium (mg)	1252 ‡	202	1000	252	<0.01 b
Chloride (mg)	6146	1080	2500	3646	<0.01 a
Copper (mg)	1.5	0.2	1	0.5	<0.01 a
Iodine (μg)	147 ‡	33	140	7	<0.05 b
Iron (mg)	15	2	11	4	<0.01 a
Magnesium (mg)	327	30	300	27	<0.01 a
Phosphorus (mg)	1467 ‡	161	775	692	<0.01 b
Potassium (mg)	3934	270	3500	434	<0.01 a
Selenium (μg)	46	6	70	–24	<0.01 a
Sodium (mg)	3849	597	2400	1449	<0.01 a
Zinc (mg)	9.3	0.8	9.5	–0.2	0.22 a

SD, standard deviation; GDR, Government Dietary Recommendations; kcal, calories; g, grams; μg, micrograms; mg, milligrams.

^a One-Sample t Test.

^b One-Sample Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test.

^*GDR target is based on the values for males aged between 15 and 18.

^†Indicates the GDR is the maximum allowance for this dietary component.

^‡Median.