Analysis of the temporal intake of cereal and dairy products in Irish adults: implications for developing food-based dietary guidelines

Abstract

Objectives: To analyse the temporal distribution of the intake of cereal and dairy products in the Republic of Ireland. Design: The North/South Ireland Food Consumption Survey established a database of habitual food and drink consumption using a 7-day food diary. The database also recorded the time and day of food consumption. Mean intakes of cereal and dairy products were calculated for time of the day and day of the week. Results: At the weekend, the percentage of consumers decreased for nearly all cereal and dairy products. White bread, total cereals, full-fat milk and total dairy intakes were significantly lower at the weekend (P , 0.01) compared with weekdays. Intakes of cereal and dairy products over time of the day showed clear mealtime or snacking patterns when the number of consumers was controlled for. White bread, wholemeal bread, total cereals, full-fat milk, reduced-fat milk and total dairy intakes showed mealtime peaks for morning, afternoon and evening. When examined by tertile of intake, tertile of percentage energy from fat and tertile of fibre intake, intakes of cereal and dairy products over time of the day and day of the week were similar to trends described above, regardless of the tertile. Conclusions: Temporal analysis of the intakes of cereal and dairy products did not reveal any unusual trends in this population. However, the significant methodological issues raised in this paper will be of benefit to other aspects of research in this area.

Temporal Dietary Patterns Derived among the Adult Participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004 Are Associated with Diet Quality

“…A different pattern of intake throughout the day was present for those that consumed cakes. 11 The present study contributes evidence for moderate daily noon and evening eating events associated with higher diet quality.…”

“…11,43,50 Intake at certain times of the day may be associated with foods that are recommended for reduction in the dietary guidelines and diets that are less supportive of overall health. Using dietary data from the 1946 British birth cohort, Burke et al 11 found consistent mealtime peaks for morning, afternoon, and early evening for the consumers of white bread, wholemeal bread, total cereals, reduced and full-fat milk and total dairy. A different pattern of intake throughout the day was present for those that consumed cakes.…”

“…In addition, the methods used to create the temporal dietary patterns described in this paper have addressed some of the obstacles noted in previous studies. 11 The use of time of day, frequency, and proportional energy intake for clustering rather than reported eating occasion labels, 52,53 or consolidated time blocks by eating occasions, 9,10 limits the bias that researchers and study participants may place on the names assigned to eating occasions throughout the day. A limitation was the examination of all days in the analysis rather than separate examination of weekdays and weekend days.…”

“…Previous documented attempts to carry out temporal analysis of dietary intake in relation to food based dietary guidance encountered “many methodological issues” 11 and “one of the major methodological issues was statistical analysis”. 11 The research described herein addresses these previously identified challenges by applying a novel distance metric based on the dynamic time warping technique used in speech processing 12,13 to identify similarities in the time of intake, frequency of intake and magnitude of proportional energy intake over a 24-hour period and reduce the data using cluster analysis.…”

“…11 The research described herein addresses these previously identified challenges by applying a novel distance metric based on the dynamic time warping technique used in speech processing 12,13 to identify similarities in the time of intake, frequency of intake and magnitude of proportional energy intake over a 24-hour period and reduce the data using cluster analysis. 6 Groups displaying similar energy intake features, or temporal dietary patterns, are expected to exhibit a similar quality of dietary intake that is distinct from other temporally defined groups.…”