TABLE 1.
Baseline characteristics of participants with diabetes classified according to eating frequency in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2014.
| Total | Eating frequency < 3 | Eating frequency = 3 | Eating frequency = 4 | Eating frequency > 4 | P-value | |
| Age (mean ± SE) (years) | 57.77 ± 0.33 | 54.84 ± 1.01 | 57.78 ± 0.56 | 58.38 ± 0.41 | 57.09 ± 0.78 | 0.004 |
| Gender | 0.005 | |||||
| Male | 2,526 (51.3) | 174 (58.0) | 736 (50.7) | 1,129 (48.5) | 487 (57.7) | |
| Female | 2,398 (48.7) | 126 (42.0) | 717 (49.3) | 1,199 (51.5) | 356 (42.3) | |
| Race/Ethnicity | <0.001 | |||||
| Mexican American | 491 (10.0) | 32 (10.8) | 162 (11.1) | 206 (8.8) | 92 (10.9) | |
| Other Hispanic | 316 (6.4) | 20 (6.8) | 102 (7.1) | 157 (6.7) | 36 (4.3) | |
| Non-Hispanic white | 2,883 (58.6) | 132 (44.2) | 784 (54.0) | 1,418 (60.9) | 548 (65.0) | |
| Non-Hispanic black | 839 (17.0) | 97 (32.4) | 309 (21.3) | 350 (15.0) | 83 (9.8) | |
| Other race | 394 (8.0) | 17 (5.8) | 96 (6.6) | 197 (8.5) | 84 (9.9) | |
| BMI (mean ± SE) (kg/m2) | 33.02 ± 0.18 | 34.02 ± 0.55 | 33.08 ± 0.32 | 32.89 ± 0.24 | 32.92 ± 0.47 | 0.248 |
| SBP (mean ± SE) (mmHg) | 131.25 ± 0.48 | 133.37 ± 1.59 | 130.98 ± 0.72 | 130.91 ± 0.63 | 131.89 ± 1.50 | 0.407 |
| DBP (mean ± SE) (mmHg) | 69.91 ± 0.41 | 72.82 ± 0.96 | 70.03 ± 0.70 | 68.94 ± 0.52 | 71.35 ± 0.85 | <0.001 |
| Alcohol user | 0.030 | |||||
| Yes | 3,245 (65.9) | 192 (63.9) | 933 (64.2) | 1,513 (65.0) | 607 (72.0) | |
| No | 1,679 (34.1) | 108 (36.1) | 520 (35.8) | 815 (35.0) | 236 (28.0) | |
| Smoking status | 0.032 | |||||
| Never smoker | 2,411 (49.0) | 133 (44.3) | 690 (47.5) | 1,207 (51.9) | 380 (45.0) | |
| Ever smoker | 1,678 (34.1) | 94 (31.2) | 516 (35.5) | 773 (33.2) | 295 (35.0) | |
| Current smoker | 836 (17.0) | 73 (24.5) | 246 (16.9) | 348 (14.9) | 169 (20.0) | |
| Education levels | <0.001 | |||||
| <9th grade | 616 (12.5) | 44 (14.6) | 223 (15.3) | 255 (11.0) | 94 (11.1) | |
| 9–11th grade | 850 (17.3) | 76 (25.4) | 279 (19.2) | 381 (16.4) | 114 (13.5) | |
| 12th grade | 1,273 (25.9) | 89 (29.8) | 364 (25.1) | 596 (25.6) | 224 (26.5) | |
| >12th grade | 2,185 (44.4) | 91 (30.2) | 587 (40.4) | 1,095 (47.0) | 412 (48.9) | |
| Family income-poverty ratio | <0.001 | |||||
| ≤1.0 | 961 (19.5) | 101 (33.5) | 352 (24.2) | 370 (15.9) | 138 (16.3) | |
| 1.0–3.0 | 2,079 (42.2) | 116 (38.7) | 636 (43.8) | 973 (41.8) | 354 (41.9) | |
| >3.0 | 1,884 (38.3) | 83 (27.8) | 465 (32.0) | 984 (42.3) | 352 (41.8) | |
| Ideal physical activity | 0.011 | |||||
| Yes | 1,905 (38.7) | 79 (26.3) | 543 (37.4) | 946 (40.7) | 336 (39.9) | |
| No | 3,019 (61.3) | 221 (73.7) | 910 (62.6) | 1,381 (59.3) | 507 (60.1) | |
| HEI score, (mean ± SE) | 55.80 ± 0.31 | 50.47 ± 1.04 | 53.96 ± 0.47 | 57.39 ± 0.38 | 56.48 ± 0.73 | <0.001 |
| Daily calorie intake (mean ± SE), calories | 1,976.15 ± 17.93 | 1,557.59 ± 56.46 | 1,807.98 ± 30.57 | 2,015.04 ± 24.98 | 2,307.35 ± 47.95 | <0.001 |
| Breakfast skipping | <0.001 | |||||
| Yes | 964 (19.6) | 182 (60.7) | 417 (28.7) | 276 (11.9) | 89 (10.5) | |
| No | 3,960 (80.4) | 118 (39.3) | 1,036 (71.3) | 2,052 (88.1) | 755 (89.5) | |
| Diet record days | 0.012 | |||||
| Weekdays | 4,292 (87.2) | 249 (82.9) | 1,240 (85.4) | 2,038 (87.5) | 765 (90.8) | |
| Non-weekdays | 632 (12.8) | 51 (17.1) | 213 (14.6) | 290 (12.5) | 78 (9.2) | |
| Duration of diabetes | 0.815 | |||||
| ≤3 years | 1,568 (31.8) | 102 (34.1) | 458 (31.5) | 732 (31.4) | 277 (32.8) | |
| 3–10 years | 1,662 (33.7) | 90 (29.9) | 511 (35.2) | 795 (34.1) | 267 (31.6) | |
| >10 years | 1,694 (34.4) | 108 (36.1) | 484 (33.3) | 802 (34.4) | 300 (35.6) | |
| Hypertension | 0.987 | |||||
| Yes | 3,047 (61.9) | 189 (62.9) | 899 (61.9) | 1,442 (62.0) | 517 (61.3) | |
| No | 1,877 (38.1) | 111 (37.1) | 554 (38.1) | 886 (38.0) | 326 (38.7) | |
| Hypercholesterolemia | 0.118 | |||||
| Yes | 2,772 (56.3) | 152 (50.8) | 800 (55.0) | 1,308 (56.2) | 512 (60.7) | |
| No | 2,152 (43.7) | 147 (49.2) | 653 (45.0) | 1,020 (43.8) | 331 (39.3) | |
| CVD | 0.884 | |||||
| Yes | 1,171 (23.8) | 69 (22.9) | 358 (24.6) | 553 (23.8) | 192 (22.7) | |
| No | 3,753 (76.2) | 231 (77.1) | 1,095 (75.4) | 1,775 (76.2) | 652 (77.3) | |
| Diabetes medication use | 0.075 | |||||
| No insulin or pills | 1,750 (35.5) | 141 (47.2) | 553 (38.1) | 773 (33.2) | 282 (33.5) | |
| Only diabetes pills | 2,150 (43.7) | 112 (37.3) | 607 (41.8) | 1,058 (45.4) | 373 (44.3) | |
| Only insulin | 549 (11.1) | 22 (7.2) | 167 (11.5) | 268 (11.5) | 92 (10.9) | |
| Pills and insulin | 475 (9.6) | 25 (8.3) | 126 (8.6) | 229 (9.8) | 96 (11.4) | |
| Hypertension medication use | 0.827 | |||||
| Yes | 2,645 (53.7) | 152 (50.6) | 779 (53.6) | 1,264 (54.3) | 450 (53.4) | |
| No | 2,279 (46.3) | 148 (49.4) | 674 (46.4) | 1,064 (45.7) | 393 (46.6) | |
| Hypercholesterolemia medication use | 0.003 | |||||
| Yes | 2,009 (40.8) | 85 (28.4) | 573 (39.4) | 974 (41.9) | 377 (44.7) | |
| No | 2,915 (59.2) | 215 (71.6) | 880 (60.6) | 1,354 (58.1) | 467 (55.3) | |
| Outcomes | ||||||
| All-cause mortality | <0.001 | |||||
| Yes | 988 (20.1) | 70 (23.2) | 341 (23.5) | 459 (19.7) | 118 (14.0) | |
| No | 3,936 (79.9) | 230 (76.8) | 1,112 (76.5) | 1,869 (80.3) | 725 (86.0) | |
| CVD-related mortality | <0.001 | |||||
| Yes | 242 (4.9) | 21 (7.0) | 101 (7.0) | 91 (3.9) | 28 (3.3) | |
| No | 4,682 (95.1) | 279 (93.0) | 1,352 (93.0) | 2,236 (96.1) | 815 (96.7) | |
| Cancer-related mortality | 0.170 | |||||
| Yes | 134 (2.7) | 6 (2.1) | 42 (2.9) | 73 (3.1) | 13 (1.6) | |
| No | 4,790 (97.3) | 293 (97.9) | 1,411 (97.1) | 2,255 (96.9) | 830 (98.4) | |
Data are numbers (percentages) unless otherwise indicated. All estimates accounted for complex survey designs.