A Definition of "Regular Meals" Driven by Dietary Quality Supports a Pragmatic Schedule.

ABSTRACT: Public health guidelines advise eating regular meals without defining "regular." This study constructed a meaning for "regular" meals congruent with dietary quality. Parents of 4th grade youth in a school-based intervention (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02491294) completed three, ASA24 online 24-h dietary recalls. Differences in time of intake across days for breakfasts, lunches, dinners were categorized with consistency denoted as always, often/sometimes or rarely/never and assigned values of 3, 2 or 1, respectively. Meal-specific values were summed to form mealtime regularity scores (mReg) ranging from 3 (low) to 9. Healthy eating index (HEI) scores were compared to mReg controlling for weekday/weekend recall pattern. Linear regression predicted HEI scores from mReg. Parents (n = 142) were non-

SUBMITTER: Lohse B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7551846 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature