Table 3.
Median percentage energy derived from macronutrients, and sodium and fibre density, of 100 television chef recipes and 100 supermarket ready meals, United Kingdom, 2010
| Nutritional content | Recipes (n=100) | Ready meals (n=100) | All items | WHO range | χ2* | P value* | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median (interquartile range) | % within WHO range | Median (interquartile range) | % within WHO range | Median (interquartile range) | No (%) within WHO range | ||||||
| Macronutrient (% energy): | |||||||||||
| Protein | 23.8 (18.8-33.9) | 7 | 22.7 (18.2-27.3) | 9 | 22.9 (18.5-30.5) | 16 (8) | 10-15 | 0.27 | 0.60 | ||
| Carbohydrate | 31.6 (19.0-42.1) | 6 | 42.9 (37.0-52.5) | 18 | 38.7 (28.9-48.4) | 24 (12) | 55-75 | 6.82 | 0.01 | ||
| Sugars | 5.3 (3.3-8.8) | 81 | 5.7 (3.8-8.7) | 83 | 5.5 (3.3-8.8) | 164 (82) | <10 | 0.14 | 0.71 | ||
| Fat | 42.2 (30.1-54.0) | 24 | 32.4 (25.9-39.2) | 37 | 35.6 (27.9-45.9) | 61 (31) | 15-30 | 3.99 | 0.05 | ||
| Saturated fat | 14.9 (9.0-20.9) | 33 | 13.9 (7.8-18.7) | 34 | 14.0 (8.0-19.8) | 67 (34) | <10 | 0.02 | 0.88 | ||
| Fibre density (g/MJ) | 1.4 (0.8-2.6) | 14 | 3.2 (2.4-4.4) | 56 | 2.5 (1.4-3.7) | 70 (35) | >3.0† | 38.77 | <0.01 | ||
| Sodium density (g/MJ) | 0.2 (0.1-0.4) | 36 | 0.4 (0.3-0.5) | 4 | 0.4 (0.2-0.5) | 40 (20) | <0.2‡ | 32.00 | <0.01 | ||
*χ2 tests with one degree of freedom comparing proportion of recipes with proportion of ready meals in World Health Organization range.
†Based on 8.4 MJ/day (2000 kcal/day) diet and recommended daily fibre intake of >25 g.
‡Based on 8.4 MJ/day (2000 kcal/day) diet and recommended daily sodium intake of <2 g.