Table 2.

The association between dietary habits and GERD in study participants

Variable	Total N = 505		GERD N = 285		Non- GERD N = 220		P-value*
	N	%	N	%	N	%
Numbers of meals consumed daily(meals/d)
< 3	185	36.6	107	37.5	78	35.5	0.62
≥ 3	320	63.4	178	62.5	142	64.5
Time interval between the last meal and sleep (hours)
< 2	247	48.9	146	51.2	101	45.9	0.23
≥ 2	258	51.1	139	48.8	119	54.1
Resting immediately after the main meals
Yes	335	66.3	186	65.3	149	67.7	0.56
No	170	33.7	99	34.7	71	32.3
Large portion-size meals (times/wk)
< 2	236	46.7	123	43.2	113	51.4	0.06
≥ 2	269	53.3	162	56.8	107	48.6
Fast foods intake (times/wk)
< 2	468	92.7	267	93.7	201	91.4	0.32
≥ 2	37	7.3	18	6.3	19	8.6
Spicy foods intake (times/wk)
< 2	271	53.7	152	53.3	119	54.1	0.86
≥ 2	234	46.3	133	46.7	101	45.9
Chocolate intake (times/wk)
< 2	324	64.2	179	62.8	145	65.9	0.47
≥ 2	181	35.8	106	37.2	75	34.1
Tea intake
None	38	7.5	20	7	18	8.2	0.54
Just before meals	109	21.6	67	23.5	42	19.1
Just after meals	98	19.4	51	17.9	47	21.4
Between meals	260	51.5	147	51.6	113	51.4
Coffee intake
None	474	93.9	272	95.4	202	91.8	0.18
Just before OR after meals	12	2.4	4	1.4	8	3.6
Between meals	19	3.8	9	3.2	10	4.5
Citrus intake
None	360	71.3	195	68.4	165	75	0.08
Just before OR after meals	52	10.3	28	9.8	24	10.9
Between meals	93	18.4	62	21.8	31	14.1
Carbonated drinks intake
None	217	43	127	44.6	90	40.9	0.16
Within meals	234	46.3	134	47	100	45.5
Between meals	54	10.7	24	8.4	30	13.6

*p-values was derived from Chi-square test