Table 3.
Rotated factor loadings for the first four components from principal component analysis using nutrients, US population aged 1+ years (NHANES 2009–2010) (N = 9,317)
| PC1 | PC2 | PC3 | PC4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicatora | (% expl.b = 20.4) | (% expl. = 18.0) | (% expl. = 17.7) | (% expl. = 10.9) |
| Fiber density (g/1,000 kcal) | 0.47 c | -0.12 | 0.00 | 0.09 |
| Sodium density (g/1,000 kcal) | 0.04 | -0.22 | 0.39 | 0.20 |
| Potassium density (mg/1,000 kcal) | 0.44 | 0.15 | 0.10 | -0.08 |
| Iron density (mg/1,000 kcal) | 0.02 | 0.00 | -0.09 | 0.68 |
| Zinc density (mg/1,000 kcal) | -0.08 | 0.06 | 0.16 | 0.53 |
| Phosphorus density (mg/1,000 kcal) | 0.09 | 0.38 | 0.21 | 0.08 |
| Magnesium density (mg/1,000 kcal) | 0.44 | 0.05 | 0.11 | 0.05 |
| Calcium density (mg/1,000 kcal) | 0.02 | 0.55 | -0.07 | 0.02 |
| Vitamin A density (μg/1,000 kcal) | 0.06 | 0.24 | -0.09 | 0.24 |
| Vitamin C density (mg/1,000 kcal) | 0.40 | 0.07 | -0.15 | -0.21 |
| Vitamin D density (μg/1,000 kcal) | -0.02 | 0.55 | -0.08 | 0.00 |
| Protein (% of total energy) | 0.05 | 0.03 | 0.45 | 0.14 |
| Carbohydrate (% of total energy) | 0.17 | 0.00 | -0.54 | 0.17 |
| Added sugars (% of total energy) | -0.24 | -0.03 | -0.41 | 0.14 |
| Saturated fat (% of total energy) | -0.34 | 0.30 | 0.22 | -0.16 |
aFor details on indicators, see Methods section
bProportion of the variance explained by each factor after orthogonal varimax rotation (Kaiser on)
cItems with a factor loading above 0.20 or below -0.20 have been highlighted using boldface