Nutritional quality of meals and snacks assessed by the Food Standards Agency nutrient profiling system in relation to overall diet quality, body mass index, and waist circumference in British adults

Table 1 Characteristics of subjects

	Men (n 659)		Women (n 792)
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Age (years)	42.5	11.9	42.4	12.0
Social class (%)
Manual	45.7		32.2
Non-manual	54.3		67.8
Smoking status (%)
Never	44.3		46.5
Former	25.6		22.0
Current	30.1		31.6
Physical activity (MET-h/d)	46.0	10.0	42.3	4.1
BMI (kg/m²)	27.3	4.4	26.8	5.6
WC (cm)	96.0	11.1	83.1	11.9
EI:EER	0.73	0.19	0.69	0.18
Total EI (kJ/d)	9882	2510	6980	1744
Eating frequency (times/d)	5.65	1.88	4.89	1.41
MF_time (times/d)*	3.64	1.19	3.30	0.97
SF_time (times/d)*	2.01	1.12	1.60	0.84
MF_energy% (times/d)†	2.29	0.55	2.29	0.57
SF_energy% (times/d)†	3.35	2.03	2.61	1.53
Food intake from meals and snacks (g/10 MJ)
Fruits, vegetables and nuts	249.5	173.5	357.5	247.9
Cereals	242.0	102.2	241.1	103.0
Biscuits, cakes and pastries	38.6	39.5	41.7	38.3
Fish	34.6	41.6	44.7	58.7
Meat	203.5	95.4	187.1	113.4
Dairy products	285.5	186.9	366.7	221.7
Soft drinks	127.9	205.5	128.4	217.0
Sugar, preserves and confectionery	33.7	34.3	31.7	34.4
Nutrient intake from meals and snacks
Protein (% of energy)	15.3	2.8	15.9	3.3
Fat (% of energy)	33.5	5.8	33.6	6.5
Saturated fatty acid (% of energy)	12.6	3.0	12.7	3.3
Carbohydrate (% of energy)	44.8	7.0	46.6	7.1
Starch (% of energy)	25.5	5.7	26.4	5.7
Total sugar (% of energy)	19.3	6.3	20.2	6.5
Non-milk extrinsic sugar (% of energy)	12.6	6.0	11.5	6.1
Alcohol (% of energy)	6.5	7.0	4.1	5.5
Dietary fiber (g/10 MJ)	16.0	5.4	18.7	7.0
Sodium (mg/10 MJ)	3397	709	3414	833
Diet quality score
Healthy diet indicator‡	2.27	1.36	2.50	1.34
Mediterranean diet score§	4.43	1.69	4.39	1.67

MET, metabolic equivalent; BMI, body mass index; WC, waist circumference; EI:EER, ratio of energy intake to estimated energy requirement; EI, energy intake; MF_time, meal frequency (MF) determined based on the time consumed; SF_time, snack frequency (SF) determined based on the time consumed; MF_energy%, MF determined based on percentage contribution to total EI; SF_energy%, SF determined based on percentage contribution to total EI
*Meals were defined as eating events reported during select times of the day (0600–1000, 1200–1500, and 1800–2100 h); all other eating occasions were considered as snacks
†A meal was defined as any eating episode comprising ≥15% of total EI, regardless of the time of day or composition of foods and beverages consumed; all other eating episodes were classified as snacks
‡Possible score ranging from 0 to 7. A higher score reflecting a better diet quality
§Possible score ranging from 0 to 9. A higher score reflecting a better diet quality

ISSN: 1475-2891