The effect of snacking and eating frequency on dietary quality in British adolescents

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