Table 2 Snacking pattern of children and adolescents 2-16 years from the Australian National Nutrition Surveys 1995, 2007 and 2011–12

Characteristic

P-value

Prevalence of consumption at each meal and snacking period^*

%

SE

CI (95%)

%

SE

CI (95%)

%

SE

CI (95%)

 Breakfast

89.4

0.6

88.1–90.7

95.6

0.3

95.0–96.3

91.5

0.6

90.4–92.7

< 0.001

 Morning snack

74.4

0.9

72.6–76.2

90.5

0.5

89.5–91.4

83.1

0.8

81.6–84.7

< 0.001

 Midday meal

91.4

0.6

90.2–92.5

94.4

0.4

93.7–95.2

90.0

0.6

88.7–91.2

< 0.001

 Afternoon snack

76.1

0.9

74.3–77.8

83.5

0.6

82.3–84.7

82.2

0.8

80.7–83.8

< 0.001

 Evening meal

96.6

0.4

95.8–97.3

98.1

0.2

97.6–98.5

94.0

0.5

93.0–95.0

< 0.001

 Late night snack

10.3

0.6

9.0–11.5

12.5

0.5

11.4–13.6

9.3

0.6

8.1–10.5

< 0.001

Any meal period

99.9

0.1

99.9–100.0

100

0.0

99.9–100.0

99.8

0.1

99.6–100.0

0.174

Any snacking period

92.5

0.6

91.4–93.6

98.1

0.3

97.7–98.6

95.8

0.5

95.0–96.6

< 0.001

Frequency of snacking

< 0.001

 Non-snackers (0 snacking occasions)

7.5

0.5

6.4–8.6

1.9

0.2

1.4–2.3

4.2

0.4

3.4–5.0

 1 snacking occasion

23.6

0.9

21.9–25.4

13.7

0.6

12.6–14.8

15.5

0.8

14.0–17.0

 2 snacking occasions

43.5

1.0

41.4–45.5

41.0

0.8

39.4–42.6

34.9

1.0

33.0–36.9

 3 snacking occasions

18.3

0.8

16.7–19.9

25.5

0.7

24.1–26.9

26.9

0.9

25.1–28.7

 4+ snacking occasions

7.1

0.5

6.1–8.2

17.9

0.6

16.7–19.1

18.5

0.8

16.9–20.1

mean

SE

CI (95%)

mean

SE

CI (95%)

mean

SE

CI (95%)

Number of snacking occasions

2.0 ^a

0.02

1.9–2.0

2.5 ^b

0.02

2.5–2.6

2.5^b

0.03

2.4–2.5

< 0.001

 2-3 years

2.2

0.06

2.1–2.3

2.7

0.08

2.6–2.8

2 .6

0.07

2.5–2.8

< 0.001

 4-8 years

1.9

0.03

1.8–2.0

2.6

0.04

2.5–2.6

2.6

0.04

2.5–2.7

< 0.001

 9-13 years

2.0

0.03

1.9–2.1

2.5

0.05

2.4–2.6

2.5

0.04

2.4–2.6

< 0.001

 14-16 years

1.9

0.05

1.7–2.0

2.4

0.06

2.3–2.5

2.2

0.07

2.1–2.3

< 0.001

Total daily energy intake (kJ)

8603^a

73

8457–8748

8119^b

49

8023–8216

7756 ^b

63

7631–7880

< 0.001

Energy during snacking (kJ)

2094^a

38

2020–2167

2256^b

26

2205–2307

2366 ^c

37

2293–2439

< 0.001

Energy contribution of snacking to total daily energy intake (%)

24.1^a

0.3

23.4–24.8

27.7 ^b

0.3

27.2–28.2

30.5^a,b

0.4

29.7–31.3

< 0.001

Contribution from macronutrients to total energy intake during snacking (%)

 Protein

9.4^a

0.1

9.1–9.6

11.7^b

0.3

11.2–12.2

11.2^b

0.1

11.0–11.5

< 0.001

 Fat

29.7^a

0.3

29.1–30.3

28.2^b

0.2

27.7–28.6

28.4^a,b

0.3

27.8–29.0

< 0.001

 Carbohydrate

62.6^a

0.4

61.9–63.4

59.8^b

0.3

59.3–60.3

59.0^b

0.3

58.3–59.6

< 0.001

Total sugars

38.9^a

0.5

37.9–39.9

33.8^b

0.3

33.2–34.4

32.0^b

0.4

31.2–32.9

< 0.001

Total discretionary^† energy intake (kJ)

3680^a

53

3577–3783

2931^b

35

2863–2999

2911^b

46

2820–3001

< 0.001

Contribution of snacking to total discretionary energy (%)

33.6^a

0.6

32.4–34.7

37.9^b

0.5

37.0–38.8

40.0 ^b

0.7

38.7–41.4

< 0.001

Energy from discretionary food during snacking (%)

56.5 ^a

0.7

55.0–57.9

47.3 ^b

0.5

46.2–48.4

47.9 ^b

0.7

46.5–49.4

< 0.001