Self-Reported Nutritional Habits of Study Participants (N = 1714)*
| Item and Response Choices from Nutritional Habits Survey | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Number of times fast food eaten per week | 239 | 14.6 |
| 0 | ||
| 1 to 2 | 877 | 53.4 |
| 3 or more | 526 | 32.0 |
| Number of glasses of soda or sweet tea consumed per day | 549 | 32.7 |
| 0 | ||
| 1 to 2 | 639 | 38.0 |
| 3 or more | 492 | 29.3 |
| Number of times high-fat snacks consumed per week | 836 | 50.4 |
| 0 to 1 | ||
| 2 | 438 | 26.4 |
| 3 or more | 386 | 23.3 |
| Number of times desserts or sweets consumed per week | 610 | 36.4 |
| 0 to 1 | ||
| 2 | 433 | 25.9 |
| 3 or more | 631 | 37.7 |
| Amount of margarine, butter, meat fat consumed | 729 | 42.7 |
| None or very little | ||
| Some | 787 | 46.1 |
| A lot | 192 | 11.2 |
| Number of servings of fruits or vegetables eaten per day | 568 | 34.4 |
| 3 or more | ||
| 2 | 562 | 34.1 |
| 1 or less | 519 | 31.5 |
| Number of times lean protein eaten per week | 947 | 56.5 |
| 3 or more | ||
| 1 to 2 | 674 | 40.2 |
| 0 | 55 | 3.3 |
| Overall Nutritional Habit Score (0–14), Mean (SD)† | 6.01 | (2.73) |
* The sample N includes all those who answered at least 5 of the 7 nutritional habit questions. The sample size for individual items varies from 1642 to 1708 because of missing data.
† Scored as the sum of the 7 items, each 0 to 2, with higher scores reflecting poorer nutritional habits. If 2 or fewer items were missing, values for missing items were imputed as the mean of the nonmissing items. Cronbach’s α for the score is 0.558, and item total correlation range from 0.069 (lean protein consumption) to 0.407 (high-fat snack consumption). The median value is 6, and the most common (modal) value is 7.0, indicating very little skew. Visual inspection of the distribution and Q-Q plot indicate that the assumption of a normal distribution (and the application of parametric statistical tests) is valid.