Eating Events Research Articles

Meal Patterns in Middle-aged Men in Southern Germany: Results from the MONICA Augsburg Dietary Survey 1984/85

Seven-day food records of the MONICA project Augsburg dietary survey, which were collected in 1984/85 from 899 men aged 45–64 years (random sample), were used to analyse meal patterns. The combination of the three traditional meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) with one eating event between was most frequent, followed by two meals with two eating events between and three main meals without any other eating event (31·4 vs. 31·0 vs. 15·6% of all reported days). Breakfast delivered 17, lunch 29 and dinner 33% of the total daily energy intake; all other eating events delivered 21%. The mean contribution of the three meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner to daily protein intake was 14, 36 and 36%, to fat intake 17, 33 and 35% and to carbohydrate intake 23, 25 and 29%, respectively. Data on meal patterns are important in a comprehensive description of dietary habits of a population for a variety of reasons.

Nordic Meals: Methodological Notes on a Comparative Survey

This article discusses some methodological aspects of the project “Eating and Modern Everyday Life. A Comparative Survey of Nordic Countries”. Data were collected in April 1997 with computer assisted telephone interviews in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Questionnaires included a record of the informant's eating on the day before the interview, attitudes related to current food discourses, socio-demographic information and a few open-ended questions. The emphasis was on social and cultural aspects of eating. One aim of this study is to investigate whether regular meals are substituted by irregular eating patterns. In order to avoid any predefined meal concepts the questionnaire therefore focused on eating events. The reconstruction of data is based on a model called the eating system. The model has three dimensions: the eating pattern (the rhythm and the number of eating events, the alternations of hot and cold eating events), the meal format (the composition of the main course, the sequence of the whole meal) and the social organization of eating (where and with whom people are eating, who did the cooking). Some preliminary results are presented suggesting that the questionnaire and the analytical model suit the purpose of studying modernization through the field of food.

Prevention of Weight Gain through the Holidays

LEARNING OUTCOME: To test whether a liquid meal replacement plan can prevent weight gain during the holidays.It is a commonly held belief that Americans gain weight over the holidays (Thanksgiving to New Years), even though reliable data on holiday weight changes does not appear in recent literature. Retention of even small amounts of weight following every holiday season could contribute significantly to overall weight gain. The objective of this study was to apply a maintenance strategy which involved exchanging two regular meals with a commercial liquid meal replacement for each holiday eating event, such as parties and dinners, from Dec 15 to Jan 15. Male and female subjects (Ss) selected from a university population included staff, faculty, and students 25-60 years old Ss were randomized into treatment (N=27) and control (N=31) groups and matched by weight using a BMI of >27 for overweight. All Ss were given a baseline questionnaire designed to determine weight loss history including questions about their usual holiday weight gain. Ss reported to the clinic for a fasted morning weigh-in at the start and finish of the 4 week period. Control Ss tracked their holiday meals while treatment Ss tracked meal replacements, body weight, holiday-related eating events, and the perceived effectiveness of seven weight maintenance statements. Treatment Ss consumed an average of 16.3±7.8 meal replacement beverages during the study period. Treatment Ss lost 0.06+2.81bs while control Ss gamed 1.36±2.6 lbs (p<0.05). Ss reported an average usual holiday weight gain of 4.85 ±2.3 lbs, which did not significantly differ between groups (p<0.05). A comparison between the current year's gain and the usual holiday gain (actual gain-reported usual gain) showed a significant treatment effect with a difference of -5.03 ± 2.8 and -2.81 ±3.0 lbs in the treatment and control groups, respectively (p<0.05). The control group change reflected a placebo effect of study participation, but the differences remained significant. The treatment group had a significantly greater rate of success (59%) compared to control (18%) (p< 0.05) where “success” was defined as weight maintenance or loss. Overall, the holiday meal replacement plan was successful and may serve as a model for simplifying strategies designed to prevent weight gain during the holidays and/or special events which predictively occur.

A new approach for evaluation of meal quality and meal patterns

An objective, nutritionally orientated classification system is necessary to evaluate the frequency, nutritional quality and temporal distribution of eating events in dietary surveys. In this paper a system to classify eating events qualitatively with regard to the types of food items consumed is described and demonstrated. It comprises eight food categories and criteria for their combination into four types of meals and three types of snacks of various nutrient composition. The food categories represent food items of animal and plant origin, and also food products containing sucrose and beverages containing alcohol or lacking energy and nutrients.Classification requires individual data collected by established food‐record or recall methods. Data on consumed amounts is not required to classify qualitatively the eating events per se, but is required for quantitative calculations of their content, composition and relative contribution to total intakes. The application of the system to dietary data (80 repeated 24‐h recalls, 517 eating events) of 16 male three‐shift workers showed that classification of eating events was easy and largely unequivocal compared to traditional methods. Subsequent calculations showed expected differences between eating types with regard to content and relative quality. The meal‐classification system might be used as a cost‐effective method to evaluate the nutritional profile of meal patterns in surveys.