Table 2.
Nutritional characteristics, according to quartile of frequency of ultra-processed food intake (times/d) from participants’ 24h dietary recalls, of adults aged ≥20 years (n 11 898), Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988–1994)
| Quartile of frequency of ultra-processed food intake | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quartile 1 (n 2982) | Quartile 2 (n 2989) | Quartile 3 (n 2985) | Quartile 4 (n 2942) | ||||||
| Nutrient | Mean | se | Mean | se | Mean | se | Mean | se | P value* |
| Total energy intake (kJ/d) | 8242 | 139·3 | 9096 | 146·4 | 9673 | 141·8 | 10765 | 142·3 | <0·001 |
| Total energy intake (kcal/d) | 1970 | 33·3 | 2174 | 35·0 | 2312 | 33·9 | 2573 | 34·0 | <0·001 |
| Protein (% of energy) | 16·2 | 0·2 | 15·2 | 0·1 | 15·0 | 0·1 | 14·7 | 0·1 | <0·001 |
| Carbohydrates (% of energy) | 49·3 | 0·5 | 49·8 | 0·4 | 49·5 | 0·4 | 49·9 | 0·4 | 0·31 |
| Fat (% of energy) | 25·1 | 0·3 | 25·9 | 0·3 | 26·5 | 0·2 | 26·7 | 0·2 | <0·001 |
| SFA (% of energy) | 8·4 | 0·1 | 8·7 | 0·1 | 8·9 | 0·1 | 9·1 | 0·1 | <0·001 |
| MUFA (% of energy) | 9·3 | 0·1 | 9·7 | 0·1 | 9·9 | 0·1 | 10·1 | 0·1 | <0·001 |
| PUFA (% of energy) | 5·4 | 0·1 | 5·5 | 0·1 | 5·7 | 0·1 | 5·5 | 0·1 | 0·15 |
| Added sugars (% of energy) | 11·3 | 0·4 | 13·1 | 0·4 | 14·0 | 0·3 | 16·4 | 0·3 | <0·001 |
| Fibre (g/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 8·6 | 0·2 | 8·2 | 0·1 | 7·9 | 0·1 | 7·1 | 0·1 | <0·001 |
| Cholesterol (mg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 137 | 3·2 | 124 | 2·2 | 126 | 2·7 | 124 | 2·4 | <0·001 |
| Na (mg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 1702 | 23·2 | 1637 | 17·8 | 1607 | 15·4 | 1620 | 18·8 | 0·02 |
| P (mg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 620 | 5·5 | 606 | 6·7 | 604 | 3·9 | 593 | 5·0 | 0·01 |
| K (mg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 1465 | 24·7 | 1395 | 17 | 1367 | 11·7 | 1249 | 12·6 | <0·001 |
| Mg (mg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 153 | 2·4 | 145 | 1·9 | 143 | 1·1 | 133 | 1·5 | <0·001 |
| Ca (mg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 382 | 7·0 | 390 | 7·6 | 395 | 5·2 | 383 | 6·5 | 0·10 |
| Fe (mg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 7·3 | 0·1 | 7·6 | 0·2 | 7·4 | 0·1 | 6·9 | 0·1 | <0·001 |
| Zn (mg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 5·5 | 0·1 | 5·5 | 0·1 | 5·5 | 0·1 | 5·3 | 0·1 | 0·15 |
| Vitamin A (μg RAE/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 561 | 26·1 | 510 | 26·6 | 501 | 13·9 | 429 | 16·2 | 0·001 |
| Thiamin (mg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 0·8 | 0·01 | 0·8 | 0·01 | 0·8 | 0·01 | 0·8 | 0·01 | 0·04 |
| Riboflavin (mg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 0·9 | 0·01 | 0·9 | 0·01 | 0·9 | 0·01 | 0·9 | 0·01 | 0·004 |
| Niacin (mg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 11·7 | 0·2 | 11·5 | 0·2 | 11·4 | 0·1 | 10·8 | 0·1 | <0·001 |
| Vitamin B6 (mg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 0·9 | 0·01 | 0·9 | 0·01 | 0·9 | 0·01 | 0·8 | 0·01 | <0·001 |
| Vitamin B12 (μg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 2·5 | 0·1 | 2·5 | 0·2 | 2·3 | 0·1 | 2·2 | 0·1 | 0·22 |
| Vitamin C (mg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 51·2 | 1·2 | 51·4 | 1·6 | 53·3 | 1·5 | 47·7 | 1·4 | 0·04 |
| Vitamin E (mg ATE/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 4·4 | 0·1 | 4·3 | 0·1 | 4·5 | 0·1 | 4·2 | 0·1 | 0·01 |
| Folate (μg/4184 kJ (1000 kcal)) | 136·7 | 2·5 | 138·3 | 4·1 | 141·4 | 2·8 | 123·9 | 2·3 | <0·001 |
| Nutrient-Rich Foods Index† | 23·2 | 0·6 | 20·9 | 0·6 | 20·2 | 0·4 | 16·0 | 0·4 | <0·001 |
| Healthy Eating Index-2000‡ | 63·0 | 0·4 | 63·9 | 0·4 | 63·8 | 0·4 | 62·6 | 0·4 | 0·001 |
RAE, retinal activity equivalent; ATE, α-tocopherol equivalent.
*
We tested for differences in nutritional characteristics using weighted ANOVA.
†
After excluding pregnant and lactating women, the Nutrient-Rich Foods Index was calculated based on nine nutrients to encourage (protein, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, Ca, Fe, K, Mg) and three nutrients to discourage (saturated fat, added sugar, Na):
‡
Healthy Eating Index-2000 can range from 0 to 100.