Adult Fat Intake Associated with the Presence of Children in Households: Findings from NHANES III

Article Figures & Data

Table 1.

Sample Characteristics*

	Children (n = 3714)	No Children (n = 2946)	Total Sample (n = 6660)^†
Age (mean)^‡	41.0 years	35.1 years	38.1 years
Female^§	54%	50%	52%
Race/ethnicity^‡
Caucasian	66%	78%	73%
African American	14%	10%	12%
Mexican American	9%	4%	6%
Other race	11%	8%	10%
Education
Eighth grade or less	9%	7%	8%
Some high school	16%	13%	14%
High school graduate or some college	55%	57%	34%
College graduate or more	20%	23%	44%
Foreign born	17%	14%	15%
Poverty income ratio^‡
Below poverty level	18%	10%	14%
At poverty to 2× poverty level	23%	17%	20%
2× poverty level and up	59%	73%	66%

Table 2.

24-Hour Adult Fat and Calorie Intake for Households with versus without Children*

	With Children in Household (95% CI)	Without Children (95% CI)	Difference (95% CI)^†
Adult total fat intake (g/24 hours)	91.4 (88.4, 94.4)	86.5 (83.8, 89.2)	4.9 (0.8, 9.0)
Adult saturated fat intake (g/24 hours)	29.9 (28.8, 31.0)	28.2 (27.2, 29.2)	1.7 (0.3, 3.1)
Adult calorie intake (kcal/24 hours)	2332 (2275, 2389)	2282 (2229, 2337)	50 (−26, 125)

* Adjusted for race/ethnicity, sex, age, education, foreign birth, and poverty income ratio.
† Positive differences indicate that adults with children consumed more fat and calories than adults without children; negative differences indicate that adults with children consumed less than adults without children.

Table 3.

Odds of Eating High-Fat Foods Frequently for Adults with Children in the Home versus Those without Children in the Home*

	Adjusted Odd Ratios of Eating the Food More Than Once a Week or Once a Day or More (95% CI)
Cheese, all types (day)^†	1.39 (1.09, 1.79)
Pizza, calzone, lasagna (week)	1.37 (1.10, 1.71)
Cheese dishes (week)	1.50 (1.10, 2.04)
Beef (week)	1.65 (1.27, 2.13)
Milk (day)	1.02 (0.82, 1.26)
Ice cream, ice milk, milkshakes (week)	1.37 (1.11, 1.69)
Cookies, cakes, brownies, pies, doughnuts and pastries (week)	1.27 (1.09, 1.49)
Butter (day)	1.44 (0.89, 2.35)
Oil and vinegar, mayonnaise and salad dressings (day)	1.17 (0.91, 1.5)
Chicken and turkey (week)	1.25 (0.98, 1.60)
Margarine (day)	1.30 (0.98, 1.72)
Bacon/sausage/processed meats (week)	1.36 (1.14, 1.62)
Salty snacks (day)	1.69 (1.27, 2.26)
Eggs (week)	1.08 (0.89, 1.31)
Other fats
Peanuts (week)	1.24 (1.03, 1.49)
Chocolate candy and fudge (week)	1.08 (0.88, 1.34)

* Foods are presented in order of most common sources of saturated fat in the American diet.
† Significant findings are in boldface type.