Table 2.
n | Meal frequency (times/d) | Snack frequency (times/d) | Total eating frequency (times/d)‡ | HEI-2015§ | NRF9.3‖ | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Participant identified* | Time of day† | Participant identified* | Time of day† | ||||||||||||
Mean | sd | Mean | sd | Mean | sd | Mean | sd | Mean | sd | Mean | sd | Mean | sd | ||
Sex | |||||||||||||||
Male | 318 | 2·90 | 0·24 | 3·51 | 0·95 | 1·62 | 1·31 | 1·02 | 0·79 | 4·52 | 1·34 | 51·7 | 7·3 | 678 | 104 |
Female | 321 | 2·94 | 0·15 | 3·61 | 0·86 | 1·89 | 1·23 | 1·21 | 0·79 | 4·83 | 1·26 | 52·5 | 7·4 | 657 | 107 |
P ¶ | 0·04 | 0·13 | 0·007 | 0·002 | 0·003 | 0·21 | 0·01 | ||||||||
Age group (years) | |||||||||||||||
<40 | 205 | 2·86a | 0·28 | 3·43a | 0·94 | 1·71 | 1·35 | 1·14 | 0·84 | 4·57 | 1·43 | 48·2a | 6·5 | 615a | 114 |
40–59 | 279 | 2·94b | 0·16 | 3·70b | 0·90 | 1·85 | 1·23 | 1·09 | 0·77 | 4·78 | 1·23 | 52·5b | 6·6 | 675b | 92 |
≥60 | 155 | 2·97b | 0·11 | 3·49a,b | 0·84 | 1·65 | 1·26 | 1·13 | 0·79 | 4·62 | 1·27 | 56·6c | 6·9 | 723c | 84 |
P ** | <0·0001 | 0·003 | 0·24 | 0·77 | 0·17 | <0·0001 | <0·0001 | ||||||||
Weight status†† | |||||||||||||||
Underweight | 35 | 2·94 | 0·15 | 3·71 | 1·04 | 2·05 | 1·42 | 1·28 | 0·78 | 4·99 | 1·45 | 50·5 | 6·2 | 633 | 117 |
Normal weight | 445 | 2·92 | 0·20 | 3·58 | 0·91 | 1·77 | 1·24 | 1·11 | 0·77 | 4·69 | 1·27 | 52·1 | 7·2 | 671 | 101 |
Overweight | 159 | 2·91 | 0·23 | 3·47 | 0·86 | 1·65 | 1·34 | 1·09 | 0·89 | 4·57 | 1·38 | 52·5 | 7·9 | 664 | 116 |
P ** | 0·82 | 0·27 | 0·23 | 0·45 | 0·21 | 0·33 | 0·10 | ||||||||
Dietary reporting status‡‡ | |||||||||||||||
Underreporting | 20 | 2·43a | 0·51 | 2·90a | 1·26 | 1·30 | 1·34 | 0·83a | 0·64 | 3·73a | 1·49 | 46·8a | 9·4 | 605a | 150 |
Plausible reporting | 604 | 2·94b | 0·16 | 3·57b | 0·88 | 1·77 | 1·27 | 1·14a | 0·80 | 4·71b | 1·29 | 52·2b | 7·2 | 671b | 102 |
Overreporting | 15 | 3·00b | 0·00 | 3·95b | 1·09 | 1·67 | 1·50 | 0·72a | 0·67 | 4·67a,b | 1·50 | 54·9b | 7·9 | 615a,b | 159 |
P ** | <0·0001 | 0·001 | 0·25 | 0·03 | 0·004 | 0·002 | 0·004 | ||||||||
Survey year | |||||||||||||||
2003 | 250 | 2·96 | 0·14 | 3·61 | 0·80 | 1·72 | 1·11 | 1·07 | 0·68 | 4·69 | 1·13 | 53·6 | 6·9 | 689 | 96 |
2013 | 389 | 2·89 | 0·23 | 3·53 | 0·97 | 1·78 | 1·37 | 1·14 | 0·87 | 4·67 | 1·41 | 51·2 | 7·5 | 653 | 110 |
P ¶ | <0·0001 | 0·23 | 0·62 | 0·27 | 0·89 | <0·0001 | <0·0001 |
HEI-2015, Healthy Eating Index-2015; NRF9.3, Nutrient-Rich Food Index 9.3.
For the participant-identified definition, eating occasions recorded in the sections of breakfast, lunch and dinner in the food diary were considered meals, while eating occasions recorded in the snack section were considered snacks. For multiple entries of eating occasions into a section of breakfast, lunch or dinner (ten cases), however, the first eating occasion was considered a meal, and the following eating occasions were considered snacks.
For the time-of-day definition, meals were defined as eating occasions whose start time was within select time periods of the day (06.00–10.00, 12.00–15.00 and 18.00–21.00 hours), and any eating occasions starting outside of these time periods were considered snacks.
Sum of meal frequency and snack frequency.
A maximum score is 100. A higher score indicates a higher diet quality.
A maximum score is 900. A higher score indicates a higher diet quality.
Based on independent t test.
Based on ANOVA. When the overall P from ANOVA was <0·05, Bonferroni’s post hoc test was performed; values within each variable with unlike superscript letters are significantly different (P < 0·05).
Underweight, normal weight and overweight were defined as participants having a BMI (in kg/m2) of <18·5, ≥18·5 to <25 and ≥25, respectively.
Underreporting, plausible reporting and overreporting were defined as participants having a ratio of reported energy intake to BMR of <1·02, ≥1·02 to <2·35 and ≥2·35, respectively.