. 2020 Jun 29;124(11):1219–1228. doi: 10.1017/S0007114520002317

Table 2.

Meal, snack and total eating frequency and diet quality scores according to each category of basic characteristics in 639 Japanese adults aged 20–81 years

(Mean values and standard deviations)

	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^†		Total eating frequency (times/d)^‡		HEI-2015^§		NRF9.3^‖
		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	2·86^a	0·28	3·43^a	0·94	1·71	1·35	1·14	0·84	4·57	1·43	48·2^a	6·5	615^a	114
40–59	279	2·94^b	0·16	3·70^b	0·90	1·85	1·23	1·09	0·77	4·78	1·23	52·5^b	6·6	675^b	92
≥60	155	2·97^b	0·11	3·49^a,b	0·84	1·65	1·26	1·13	0·79	4·62	1·27	56·6^c	6·9	723^c	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	2·43^a	0·51	2·90^a	1·26	1·30	1·34	0·83^a	0·64	3·73^a	1·49	46·8^a	9·4	605^a	150
Plausible reporting	604	2·94^b	0·16	3·57^b	0·88	1·77	1·27	1·14^a	0·80	4·71^b	1·29	52·2^b	7·2	671^b	102
Overreporting	15	3·00^b	0·00	3·95^b	1·09	1·67	1·50	0·72^a	0·67	4·67^a,b	1·50	54·9^b	7·9	615^a,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.