Meal-specific dietary patterns and their contribution to habitual dietary patterns in the Iranian population

• Published in: British journal of nutrition Vol. 129; no. 2; pp. 262 - 271
• Main Authors: Lesani, Azadeh, Djafarian, Kurosh, Akbarzade, Zahra, Janbozorgi, Nasim, Shab-Bidar, Sakineh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 28.01.2023
• Subjects: Chronic illnesses; Consistency; Correlation analysis; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; Dairy products; Diet; Dietary intake; Dietary Surveys and Nutritional Epidemiology; Disease; Energy intake; Food; Food groups; Food intake; Fruits; Health care; Legumes; Lunches; Meals; Meat; Nutrition research; Population studies; Principal components analysis; Public health; Questionnaires; Sample size; Vegetables; Iran; Meal pattern; Dietary pattern analysis; Consistency in consumption; Principal component analysis
• ISSN: 0007-1145; 1475-2662
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007114521005067

Recent studies have focused on habitual intake without addressing meal-specific intakes. We aimed to identify meal-specific dietary patterns and their contribution to habitual dietary patterns. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 838 adults, both sexes who attended the health centres in Tehran. Dietary data were recorded by three 24-h dietary recalls (24hDR). Dietary patterns were identified by using principal component analysis on meal-specific and overall food intakes. Intraclass correlation (ICC) was used as a measurement of consistency across meals and days. Correlation analysis and linear regression (partial R 2) were used for meals contribution. Four habitual dietary patterns were derived from average dietary intake of 3-d 24hDR labelled as ‘Western’, ‘Healthy’, ‘Traditional’ and ‘Legume and broth’. Also, we identified two major dietary patterns on each meal level (factor 1 and 2 for breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner). The highest contribution of energy intake was observed in lunch (25·7 %), followed by dinner (20·81 %). Consistency of food groups was the highest across days (ICC tea = 0·58) and breakfasts (ICC tea = 0·60). Dinner had a strong correlation coefficient with the ‘Western’ habitual dietary pattern then followed by lunch. Similarly, dinner and lunch contributed the most (r and partial R 2) to the ‘Western’ habitual dietary pattern. Our results suggest that habitual dietary patterns to several extents are formed at meal levels, and dinner has a greater contribution to the habitual dietary patterns in Iranian people. This may help planning for local dietary guidelines according to the time of eating to promote public health.