Llauradó, E, Albar, SA, Giralt, M et al. (2 more authors) (2016) The effect of snacking and eating frequency on dietary quality in British adolescents. European Journal of Nutrition, 55 (4). pp. 1789-1797. ISSN 1436-6207
Abstract
Purpose: To describe the effects of number of eating occasions and snacks on dietary quality (DQ), defined as adherence to dietary recommendations. Methods: A sample of 884 adolescents (11-18y) in the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) were included. The Diet Quality Index for Adolescents (DQI-A) was implemented. The total number of eating occasions and snacks was frequency of food or beverages consumed over 24h and frequency of foods or beverages consumed outside of the three mealtimes respectively. Results were generated with and without low energy food under 210KJ (50kcal). Regression models were generated with DQ score as the outcome variable and number of eating occasions and snacks as predictors. Results: The mean(95%CI) DQ score was 31.1%(30.2, 32.0). The mean number of eating occasions and snacks was 7.5(7.3, 7.7) and 2.6(2.6, 2.7) times/day respectively. When low energy events were excluded, mean number of eating occasions and snacks reduced to 6.2(6.1, 6.4) and 2.0(2.0, 2.1) times/day respectively. DQ score increased by 0.74 points (0.42, 1.05; p<0.01) and 0.55 points (-0.08, 0.69; p=0.17) for total eating occasions and snacks respectively. When low energy events were excluded, DQ score increased by 0.30 points (-0.84, 0.69; p=0.13) for each eating occasion and decreased by 1.20 points (-2.1,-0.3; p<0.01) for each snack. Conclusion: Eating more frequently improves dietary quality especially if some eating occasions, are low in energy. A focus on replacing high-energy snacks with low-energy alternatives rather than reducing the number of eating occasions may result in improved dietary quality in adolescents.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015, Springer Verlag. This is an author produced version of a paper accepted for publication in European Journal of Nutrition. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00394-015-0997-8. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Adolescents; dietary quality; snacking; eating occasions; cross-sectional data |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Food Science and Nutrition (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 05 Aug 2015 09:43 |
Last Modified: | 03 Nov 2017 03:49 |
Published Version: | https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00394-015-0997-8 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Verlag |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s00394-015-0997-8 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:88692 |