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 2 Characteristics of meals and snacks

			Meals and snacks based on time*					Meals and snacks based on EI contribution^†
	Total intake		Intake from meals		Intake from snacks			Intake from meals		Intake from snacks
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	P ^‡	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	P ^‡
Men (n 659)
Energy (kJ/d)	9882	2510	6960	2249	2922	1727	<0.0001	7457	1900	2425	1536	<0.0001
SFA (g/10 MJ)	33.3	7.9	33.1	8.5	33.2	11.8	0.76	35.8	8.2	26.3	13.7	<0.0001
Total sugar (g/10 MJ)	122.0	39.5	118.3	43.0	148.1	72.2	<0.0001	84.5	32.5	247.4	95.1	<0.0001
Sodium (mg/10 MJ)	3397	709	3495	817	3001	1321	<0.0001	3838	792	2077	1270	<0.0001
Dietary fiber (g/10 MJ)	23.5	12.2	16.6	5.9	13.8	7.4	<0.0001	17.6	5.2	11.2	9.0	<0.0001
Protein (g/10 MJ)	90.8	16.6	93.4	18.2	80.6	27.6	<0.0001	101.6	18.6	59.5	26.5	<0.0001
Fruits, vegetables and nuts (g/10 MJ)	249.5	173.5	253.8	188.9	246.7	289.1	0.51	250.3	170.9	286.4	420.1	0.02
FSA score§	5.55	2.04	5.44	2.20	6.02	3.25	<0.0001	5.54	2.03	5.52	3.52	0.87
Women (n 792)
Energy (kJ/d)	6980	1744	4992	1581	1987	1195	<0.0001	5395	1342	1584	914	<0.0001
SFA (g/10 MJ)	33.6	8.8	33.2	9.4	34.3	13.4	0.01	35.0	9.1	29.0	14.1	<0.0001
Total sugar (g/10 MJ)	127.8	4.1	124.4	47.5	160.0	82.8	<0.0001	92.7	33.4	257.5	88.8	<0.0001
Sodium (mg/10 MJ)	3414	833	3539	899	2885	1281	<0.0001	3726	885	2326	1517	<0.0001
Dietary fiber (g/10 MJ)	29.8	17.2	19.3	8.2	16.3	8.8	<0.0001	19.8	6.7	15.1	11.5	<0.0001
Protein (g/10 MJ)	94.3	19.3	95.2	21.5	85.5	32.0	<0.0001	102.2	20.5	67.4	27.3	<0.0001
Fruits, vegetables and nuts (g/10 MJ)	357.5	247.9	353.1	259.1	388.7	460.6	0.02	336.0	225.4	483.9	610.9	<0.0001
FSA score§	5.24	2.16	5.15	2.38	5.88	3.51	<0.0001	5.14	2.16	5.37	3.59	0.0499

SFA, saturated fatty acid; FSA, Food Standards Agency
*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 energy intake, regardless of the time of day or composition of foods and beverages consumed; all other eating episodes were classified as snacks
^‡ P values for differences between meal and snack based on the paired t-test
§Possible score ranging from −15 to 40. A lower score reflecting a better nutritional quality

ISSN: 1475-2891