NUTRIENT INTAKE

16 EVA ROOS AND RITVA PRÄTTÄLÄ
600
Energy derived from fat kjoule/hour
500
400
300
200
100
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Time
FIGURE 2. Distribution of energy intake derived from fat during the day. Ε, men; Φ,
women.
RESULTS
The distribution of energy intake during the day corresponded to the conventional
3-meal pattern of one energy peak at breakfast time, one at lunch time and one at
dinner time, for both men and women (Fig. 1). For the energy derived from fat,
two peaks could be observed, one at lunch and one at dinner time, but a peak at
breakfast time could only be observed for women (Fig. 2). The energy intake derived
from sugar was evenly distributed from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Fig. 3).
About half the daily energy was obtained from meals (Table 2) and over 10% of
the total daily energy intake came from eating occasions other than meals or snacks.
Fat and protein intakes were associated with meals, whereas sugar and alcohol were
mostly consumed in snacks and other eating occasions. Comparing nutrient densities
of different eating occasions showed that meals contained more fat, proteins, fibre,
carotenoids and cholesterol per energy unit, but less sugar, vitamin C and alcohol
than other eating occasions (Table 3).
The analysis of food items in different eating occasions showed that meals had
a higher density of cereals and vegetables, and a lower density of fruit and berries,
juices, coffee and tea, and desserts and cakes. As expected, meals had the highest
density of cooked dishes, potatoes, pasta and rice, and snacks the lowest. Other
eating occasions were intermediate in these respects and they included the highest
proportions of juice, soft drinks, coffee and tea, candies and crisps.
The distribution of meal patterns in different age groups and regions is shown
in Table 1. The last two groups in Table 1 were combined in a further analysis of
meal pattern into a single group ‘‘Other meal pattern’’ (2M), because of the few
cases in the one meal group. Ninety two percent of the 2M-group ate breakfast,
51% ate warm lunch and 46% ate warm dinner.