Snacks as an element of energy intake and food consumption
Abstract
Background An increasing frequency of snacks has been observed in meal pattern studies. Snacks can alter the diet because of their high-energy density and low-nutrient content or on the contrary. Objective The prominence of snacks in energy intake and food consumption was assessed. Design Dietary data were collected for 2007 adults by using a computer-assisted 48-h dietary recall in the national FINDIET 2002 survey. Energy intakes and food consumption were aggregated for snacks and for main meals. Results Daily energy was mostly derived from main meals comprising traditional mixed dishes, milk and bread. However, a snack-dominating meal pattern was observed in 19% of men and 24% of women. This meal pattern was associated with urbanization in both genders and with physical work in men. Higher sucrose intake and lower intake of micronutrients were typical of the snack-dominating meal pattern compared to the others. Conclusions As snacks appear to have a higher energy density and a lower content of micronutrients than main meals, a snack-dominating meal pattern is inadvisable. However, further studies are needed to examine the association between meal pattern and health status.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The participant-identified definition avoids the imposition of a complex criterion to classify eating occasions as meals or snacks.
“While this definition avoids the imposition of a complex criterion to classify EO as meals or snacks( 45 – 47 )”
From Understanding meal patterns: definitions, methodology and impact on nutrient intake and diet quality (2015) · cites this paper as [47]
Only thirteen of these studies examined more than one micronutrient.
“However, only thirteen of these examined more than one micronutrient( 23 , 30 , 46 , 47 , 52 , 64 – 71 ).”
From Understanding meal patterns: definitions, methodology and impact on nutrient intake and diet quality (2015) · cites this paper as [47]
Eleven studies applied no additional criteria, whereas other studies delineated eating occasions using 15-min, 30-min, 45-min plus 50 kcal, or 59-min intervals.
“For example, eleven studies( 23 , 45 – 47 , 52 , 66 , 69 , 75 , 78 , 80 , 82 ) applied no additional criteria, whereas in other studies, EO were delineated using 15-min time intervals( 57 , 70 , 77 ), a 30-min interval( 53 ), a 45-min interval plus a 50 kcal (210 kJ) energy criterion( 15 ) and a 59-min interval (applied to meals only)( 48 ).”
From Understanding meal patterns: definitions, methodology and impact on nutrient intake and diet quality (2015) · cites this paper as [47]
Meal patterns were mostly participant-identified, although these studies varied in the additional criteria used to determine an individual eating occasion, meal and/or snack, and their treatment of beverages.
“Meal patterns were mostly participant-identified( 15 , 23 , 45 – 48 , 52 , 53 , 57 , 66 , 69 , 70 , 75 , 77 , 78 , 82 ), although these studies varied in the additional criteria used to determine an individual EO, meal and/or snack, and their treatment of beverages.”
From Understanding meal patterns: definitions, methodology and impact on nutrient intake and diet quality (2015) · cites this paper as [47]
Ovaskainen et al. found that men with a snack-dominated meal pattern had significantly lower fibre and micronutrient intake (vitamins A, C, E, Ca, K, Na, Fe, Mg) compared with men with a meal-dominated pattern.
“Additionally, Ovaskainen et al. ( 47 ) found that men with a snack-dominated meal pattern (defined as the majority of daily EI derived from snacks) had significantly lower fibre and micronutrient intake (vitamins A, C, E, Ca, K, Na, Fe, Mg) when compared with men with a meal-dominated pattern.”
From Understanding meal patterns: definitions, methodology and impact on nutrient intake and diet quality (2015) · cites this paper as [47]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 31 · Cited by 178
- Authors
- Ovaskainen, M.-L., Reinivuo, H., Tapanainen, H., Hannila, M.-L., Korhonen, T., & Pakkala, H.
- Venue
- European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
- Published
- 2005-11-30
- Volume
- 60
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 494-501
- ISSN
- 0954-3007 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-5640
- OpenAlex
- W1997439936
- Cited by
- 178
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 4.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutrition and Health Studies
- Keywords
- snacks, meal patterns, energy intake, dietary intake, energy density, micronutrient intake, sucrose intake, urbanization, physical work, main meals
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Energy Intake, Cross-Sectional Studies, Diet Surveys, Eating, Feeding Behavior, Female, Finland, Food Analysis, Health Status, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Nutritive Value, Obesity, Mental Recall, Micronutrients
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
