Table 3.

Factor loading matrix ¹ and explained variances for the three major dietary patterns identified by principal component factor analysis on baseline nutrient information. Italy, 2018–2019.

Nutrient	Dietary Pattern
	Animal Products	Vitamins and Fiber	Regional
Animal protein	0.96	-	-
Vegetable protein	0.34	0.48	0.73
Cholesterol	0.88	0.15	0.13
Saturated fatty acids	0.80	0.43	0.13
Monounsaturated fatty acids	0.48	0.66	0.42
Linoleic acid	0.64	0.40	0.44
Linolenic acid	0.49	0.61	0.40
Other polyunsaturated fatty acids	-	-	0.70
Soluble carbohydrates	0.43	0.66	0.29
Starch	0.46	0.19	0.70
Sodium	0.78	0.30	0.27
Calcium	0.66	0.54	-
Potassium	0.61	0.72	0.25
Phosphorus	0.80	0.44	0.31
Iron	0.54	0.57	0.57
Zinc	0.82	0.29	0.42
Thiamin (vitamin B1)	0.69	0.44	0.41
Riboflavin (vitamin B2)	0.70	0.43	-
Vitamin B6	0.73	0.46	0.32
Total folate	0.33	0.77	0.44
Niacin	0.83	0.29	0.27
Vitamin C	0.21	0.88	-
Retinol	0.72	-	0.17
Beta-carotene	-	0.87	0.24
Vitamin D	0.79	0.10	-
Vitamin E	0.28	0.76	0.47
Total fiber	0.22	0.80	0.47
Proportion of explained variance (%)	37.99	27.28	15.09
Cumulative explained variance (%)	37.99	65.27	80.36

¹ Estimates from a principal component factor analysis on 27 nutrients. For each factor, loadings greater or equal to 0.63 indicated important or “dominant nutrients” in the current paper and were shown in bold typeface; loadings smaller than 0.1 were suppressed.