Fat intake and characteristics of eating patterns in the diets of young men

Abstract

Food and beverage intake was recorded for five days by 170 males having a mean age of 26 ± 8.1 years and living in·a university community. Differences in nutrient intake and in eating patterns between the subjects were examined in relation to the percentage of kilocalories fat intake contributed to their diet. Division of the subjects into a low, medium, or high ''fat-intake group" was established with 34 subjects consuming ≤33.5 percent fat, 98 subjects consuming >33.5 and ≤42 percent fat, and 38 subjects consuming >42 percent fat of kilocalories. Cluster and factor analyses indicated that the men were not characterized by any one typical pattern of eating. The use of discriminant analysis identified trends in consumption of certain foods consistent with the results from a previous analysis. Between the three groups of subjects there were negligible differences in nutrient intake, except for fat and carbohydrate. Both analyses indicated that the subjects with a high level of dietary fat consumed more of foods rich in fat and slightly more protein, and that the subjects with a diet lower in fat consumed more carbohydrates and alcohol. These results indicate that the majority of the young men would need to make some modifications on types of frequently consumed foods but would not require drastic changes in their diets to reduce their level of fat intake. This data also indicated that intake of other nutrients is not greatly affected by level of fat intake.