Table 3

Nutrient composition of the 24-hour recall-based evening meal by source in 1793 children who provided information on evening meal source

Nutrient composition of evening mealSource of evening mealP value (no difference)
Home (n=1637)Takeaway restaurant (n=156)
Mean (95% CI)Mean (95% CI)
Total energy (kcals)527 (510 to 543)686 (643  to 728)<0.0001
Energy density4.3 (4.2 to 4.4)5.8 (5.4  to 6.2)<0.0001
Fat % energy33.3 (32.7 to 34.0)39.7 (37.6  to 41.8)<0.0001
Saturated fat % energy11.3 (10.9 to 11.6)15.6 (14.5  to 16.6)<0.0001
Monounsaturated fat % energy11.4 (11.1 to 11.7)13.1 (12.2  to 14.0)0.0003
Polyunsaturated fat % energy6.8 (6.5 to 7.0)5.6 (4.8  to 6.4)0.005
Carbohydrates % energy50.6 (49.8 to 51.3)46.1 (43.8  to 48.5)0.0004
Sugars % energy30.5 (29.7 to 31.4)27.4 (25.2  to 29.7)0.01
Starch % energy19.6 (18.6 to 20.6)18.0 (15.4  to 20.7)0.25
Non-starch polysaccharides (g)3.7 (3.5 to 3.9)3.8 (3.3  to 4.3)0.74
Protein % energy16.1 (15.6 to 16.5)13.8 (12.6  to 15.0)0.0003
Vitamin B12 (µg)*1.0 (1.0 to 1.1)1.2 (1.0  to 1.4)0.15
Vitamin C (mg)*16.6 (15.6 to 17.7)13.7 (11.2  to 16.8)0.08
Iron (mg)*2.1 (2.0 to 2.1)2.3 (2.0  to 2.6)0.10
Folate (µg)*40.2 (38.6 to 41.8)47.7 (42.0  to 54.2)0.01
Calcium (mg)*123.9 (117.5 to 130.5)124.4 (107.6  to 143.7)0.96
  • Adjusted means and 95% CIs are adjusted for age (quartiles), sex, month, ethnic group, socioeconomic status and school (random effect).

  • *Geometric means are presented for variables that were log transformed prior to undertaking the analysis.