TY - JOUR T1 - Associations between Meal and Snack Frequency and Diet Quality in US Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2012. AU - Murakami,Kentaro, AU - Livingstone,M Barbara E, Y1 - 2016/02/02/ PY - 2015/07/21/received PY - 2015/12/03/accepted PY - 2016/2/6/entrez PY - 2016/2/6/pubmed PY - 2017/6/29/medline KW - Diet quality KW - Meal frequency KW - National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) KW - Nutrient intake KW - Snack frequency SP - 1101 EP - 13 JF - Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics JO - J Acad Nutr Diet VL - 116 IS - 7 N2 - BACKGROUND: The associations between eating frequency and diet quality are inconclusive, which might be a result of different effects of meal frequency and snack frequency. OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional study examined the associations of eating frequency, meal frequency, and snack frequency with diet quality, based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2012. DESIGN: Dietary intake was assessed in 19,427 US adults aged 20 years or older, using two 24-hour dietary recalls. All eating occasions providing ≥50 kcal were divided into either meals or snacks on the basis of contribution to daily energy intake (≥15% or <15%), self-report, and time (6 am to 10 am, 12 pm to 3 pm, and 6 pm 9 pm or others). Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010). STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Linear regression analyses were performed to explore the associations of eating frequency, meal frequency, and snack frequency (independent variables) with dietary intake variables (dependent variables). RESULTS: Higher eating frequency was modestly and positively associated with higher HEI-2010 in both men and women; one additional eating occasion per day increased HEI-2010 by 1.77 points in men and 2.22 points in women (both P<0.0001). All measures of meal frequency and snack frequency were also modestly and positively associated with HEI-2010 in both sexes, irrespective of the definition of meals and snacks. However, the associations were stronger for meal frequency than for snack frequency; one additional meal per day increased HEI-2010 by 2.14 to 5.35 points, and one additional snack per day increased HEI-2010 by 1.25 to 1.97 points (all P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: In a representative sample of US adults, both meal frequency and snack frequency were modestly associated with better diet quality. SN - 2212-2672 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/26847912/Associations_between_Meal_and_Snack_Frequency_and_Diet_Quality_in_US_Adults:_National_Health_and_Nutrition_Examination_Survey_2003_2012_ L2 - https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2212-2672(15)01808-0 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -