Characterizing children’s eating patterns: does the choice of eating occasion definition matter?

Table 5 Proportion of variance (%) of total energy intake (kJ) and total weight (g) of food and beverage intake predicted by total meal or snack frequency and total eating occasion frequency: comparison of eight eating occasion definitions: results from 2011 to 12 NNPAS by gender and age group¹

		Participant-identified		Time-of-day		15-min		15-min + 21 kJ		15-min + 210 kJ		60-min		60-min + 21 kJ		60-min + 210 kJ
		Total meal and snack frequency²				Total eating occasion frequency
	n	EI	Wgt	EI	Wgt	EI	Wgt	EI	Wgt	EI	Wgt	EI	Wgt	EI	Wgt	EI	Wgt
Boys
2–3 y	226	22.8	14.0	20.1	12.9	19.7	11.6	19.4	12.4	33.5	13.5	13.7	11.1	15.7	11.5	21.6	14.7
4–8 y	393	14.1	13.2	13.7	13.3	13.6	13.2	15.2	12.3	16.8	12.4	4.3	3.8	5.1	4.4	7.7	4.6
9–11 y	223	15.6	7.6	14.1	11.0	13.6	7.3	17.1	6.6	22.0	7.5	4.1	4.3	6.1	4.2	10.2	5.5
12-13 y	159	14.2	8.7	18.2	8.7	14.2	8.4	18.6	8.7	19.6	10.1	4.9	0.8	13.9	2.2	11.0	2.4
14-18 y	363	21.3	16.2	13.1	13.5	13.0	13.0	16.9	7.2	21.2	7.5	4.4	4.2	11.8	5.3	16.1	5.6
Girls
2–3 y	234	19.5	11.7	17.7	11.7	17.2	11.6	16.9	9.3	30.7	13.1	6.1	6.3	6.2	4.7	17.5	8.8
4–8 y	386	3.4	2.6	3.5	6.1	3.2	2.6	5.6	2.3	10.5	4.2	2.0	2.6	3.6	3.2	4.9	4.2
9–11 y	229	1.9	1.1	1.9	0.5	1.7	0.4	2.7	0.3	8.1	0.1	1.5	3.5	2.8	2.4	5.9	1.4
12-13 y	166	23.5	15.5	21.8	16.5	21.6	12.7	29.0	7.2	34.8	10.0	3.6	5.3	9.8	4.7	11.2	6.4
14-18 y	322	8.5	15.8	7.9	15.4	7.8	15.4	9.1	10.1	14.0	11.2	1.4	6.7	4.5	8.9	6.6	9.3

Abbreviations: EI energy intake; NNPAS National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey; wgt weight
¹Values are R² from linear regression models stratified by gender and age group. Highest values are highlighted in bold
²Meal and snack frequency entered as separate variables in the linear regression models

ISSN: 1479-5868