Table 2.

Factor loadings of food groups in the dietary patterns derived from principal components analysis^a,^b

Food item or groupc	Rural Residence (n = 241)			Urban Residence (n = 488)
	High sweets and starches	High reduced-fat dairy, cereal, fruits, and nuts	Mixed	High fruits and vegetables	High meat, beer, and refined grains	High sugar- sweetened beverages
Sweet tea	67	–	–	–	–	84
Sugar-sweetened beverages	63	–	–	–	–	83
White potatoes	49	–	–	–	–	–
Vegetable oil	37	–	–	–	28	–
Sweet breads/cakes	31	–	–	–	–	–
Starchy vegetables	29	–	–	–	–	35
Confectionary/other sweets	27	–	–	–	–	–
Poultry	25	–	27	–	–	–
Diet beverages	−45		–	–	–	–
Low-fat dairy	–	60	–	38	–	–
Ready-to-eat cereal	–	49	–	31	–	–
Nuts and seeds	–	49	–	36	–	–
Whole fruits	–	48	–	46	–	–
Whole grains	–	29	–	–	−53	–
Fried potatoes	–	−32	32	–	–	–
Red meat	–	−37	–	–	42	–
Refined grains	–	−48	–	–	59	–
Eggs	–	−25	51	−35	35	–
Tomatoes	–	–	53	56	–	–
Legumes	–	–	52	39	–	–
Margarine	–	–	43	–	–	–
Dressings	–	–	42	47	–	–
Deep yellow vegetables	–	–	31	30	–	–
Dark green vegetables	–	–	30	39	–	–
Salty snacks	–	–	29	–	–	–
Wine	–	–	−33	–	–	–
Fish	–	–	−26	–	–	–
Beer	–	–	–	–	41	–
Processed meat	–	–	–	–	34	–
High-fat dairy	–	–	–	–	30	–
Butter	–	–	–	–	26	–
Coffee	–	–	–	–	–	−28

^aFactor loadings are the correlation coefficients (r) between the original food intake variables and the extracted factors.

^bFactor loadings ≤ |0.25| are omitted from this table for simplicity.

^cA description of the food items included in each food group is provided in Appendix 1.