Abstract
Snacking occasions are considered to contribute little more than energy to the diet;
however, few studies have examined the role of snacking on overall diet quality. The
purpose of this study was to examine the association between snacking frequency and
overall diet quality. This study included 11,209 adults aged 20 years and older who
participated in the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Twenty-four–hour
dietary recall data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004
were used to assess snacking frequency and diet quality. Diet quality was assessed
with the US Department of Agriculture's Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-2005). To adjust
for confounding variables, multiple linear regression models were used to estimate
the association between snacking frequency and HEI-2005 score, whereas the relationship
between snacking frequency and HEI-2005 component scores were examined with Tobit
regression models. Contrary to expectation, snacking was modestly associated (P<0.001) with higher total HEI-2005 scores (49.3±0.5, 49.9±0.3, 50.9±0.3, 51.9±0.4, and 51.6±0.6
for snacking zero, one, two, three, and four or more times per day, respectively).
Total fruit (P<0.001), whole fruit (P<0.001), whole grains (P<0.001), milk (P<0.001), oils (P<0.001), and sodium (P<0.001) component scores were positively associated with snacking frequency. Inverse
associations between snacking frequency and total vegetables (P=0.009); meat and beans (P=0.045); and the energy from solid fat, alcohol, and added sugars (P=0.007) components were observed. Although the magnitude of the association between
snacking and overall diet quality was modest, snacking was associated with a more
nutrient-dense diet. Focusing on the contribution snacking may have on single nutrient
intakes may overlook its total nutritional impact.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and DieteticsAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Snacking increased among U.S. adults between 1977 and 2006.J Nutr. 2010; 140: 325-332
- Secular trends in patterns of self-reported food consumption of adult Americans: NHANES 1971-1975 to NHANES 1999-2002.Am J Clin Nutr. 2006; 84: 1215-1223
- Significant increase in young adults' snacking between 1977-1978 and 1994-1996 represents a cause for concern!.Prev Med. 2001; 32: 303-310
- A critique of the effects of snacking on body weight status.Eur J Clin Nutr. 1996; 50: 779-783
- Snacks as an element of energy intake and food consumption.Eur J Clin Nutr. 2006; 60: 494-501
- Evaluation of vitamin and mineral intakes and impact of snack foods on Spanish adults.Nutr Res. 2006; 26: 255-265
- Nutrient intakes and snacking frequency in female students.J Hum Nutr Diet. 1997; 10: 237-244
- Contribution of snacking to older adults' vitamin, carotenoid, and mineral intakes.J Am Diet Assoc. 2010; 110: 768-772
- Total water intakes of community-living middle-old and oldest-old adults.J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2009; 64: 481-486
- Development of the Healthy Eating Index-2005.J Am Diet Assoc. 2008; 108: 1896-1901
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for Health Statistics Web site.(Accessed May 1, 2009)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for Health Statistics Web site.(Accessed May 1, 2009)
- (Accessed May 1, 2009)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for Health Statistics Web site.(Accessed May 1, 2009)
- The US Department of Agriculture Automated Multiple-Pass Method reduces bias in the collection of energy intakes.Am J Clin Nutr. 2008; 88: 324-332
- Periodicity of eating and human health: Present perspective and future directions.Br J Nutr. 1997; 77: S3-S5
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for Health Statistics Web site.(Accessed May 1, 2009)
- The use of the Tobit model for analyzing measures of health status.Qual Life Res. 2000; 9: 901-910
- Evaluation of the Healthy Eating Index-2005.J Am Diet Assoc. 2008; 108: 1854-1864
- Diet quality is low among female food pantry clients in East Alabama.J Nutr Educ Behav. 2009; 41: 414-419
- Snacking patterns among 1,800 adults and children.J Am Diet Assoc. 1994; 94: 1398-1403
- Dietary assessment methodology.in: Coulston A.M. Boushey C.J. Nutrition in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease,2nd ed. Elsevier, Philadelphia, PA2008
- Effect of snacking frequency on adolescents' dietary intakes and meeting national recommendations.J Adolesc Health. 2008; 42: 503-511
- Number of days of food intake records required to estimate individual and group nutrient intakes with defined confidence.J Nutr. 1987; 117: 1638-1641
- Eating frequency: Methodological and dietary aspects.Br J Nutr. 1997; 77: S7-S20
- Snacking definitions: Impact on interpretation of the literature and dietary recommendations.Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2010; 50: 848-871
- Diet quality among Yup'ik Eskimos living in rural communities is low: The Center for Alaska Native Health Research Pilot Study.J Am Diet Assoc. 2006; 106: 1055-1063
- What We Eat in America, NHANES data tables.(Accessed June 1, 2011)
Biography
C. A. Zizza is an associate professor, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Hospitality Management, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
Biography
B. Xu is a postdoctoral fellow, Medical Informatics Center, Beijing University, Beijing, China; at the time of the study, she was a doctoral research assistant, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Hospitality Management, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 14, 2011
Accepted:
August 9,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
