Table 2.

Comparison of mean scores^a by intake categories^b for two dietary patterns: “pizza and pasta” and “snacks and dessert” in a sample of obese and overweight children (n 332).

	Dietary pattern 1: ‘pizza and pasta’c			Dietary pattern 2: ‘snacks and dessert’d
	Low intake (n 110)	Medium intake (n 111)	High intake (n 111)	Low intake (n 110)	Medium intake (n 111)	High intake (n 111)
Dietary pattern scales	0.36 (0.16)	0.90 (0.17)*	2.44 (1.55)*	0.40 (0.22)	1.18 (0.24)*	3.71 (0.33)*
Mean (SD)
BMI Z-score	1.98 (0.42)	1.93 (0.42)	2.04 (0.37)	2.00 (0.42)	1.92 (0.39)	2.03 (0.40)
Mean (SD)

SD, standard deviation.

BMI, Body Mass Index

^aThe “medium intake” category (second tertile) and “high intake” (third tertile) category were individually compared with the “low intake” (first tertile) category.

^bIntake categories are based on tertiles of each dietary pattern score: “low intake” category represents the first tertile of the dietary pattern scores, “medium intake” category represents the second tertile of the dietary pattern scores, and “high intake” category represents the third tertile of the dietary pattern scores.

^c“pizza and pasta” was characterized by high loadings of pizza, pasta, red meat, chicken, fries, sweets, processed meat, and sweet breads.

^d“snacks and dessert” was characterized by high loadings of snacks, desserts, soft drinks, and bread and refined grains.

^*P value < 0. 01.