Meal Pattern in the Colombian Population: Results of the National Nutrition Survey. ENSIN, 2015

Table 4

The number of meals per day made by the Colombian population between 18 and 64 years of age (non-pregnant women) according to sociodemographic characteristics. National Survey of Nutritional Situation in Colombia (ENSIN-2015).

Variable	n	Mean	SE	value^†	Adjusted difference (95% CI)	value^‡
Overall	9604	4.4	0.0
Sex				0.058		0.045
Males	4496	4.4	0.0		—
Females	5108	4.3	0.0		−0.1 (−0.2, −0.0)
Height				0.915		0.584
130–149	1203	4.4	0.1		0.3 (0.1, 0.5)
150–154	982	4.2	0.1		0.1 (−0.1, 0.3)
155–159	1277	4.3	0.1		0.2 (−0.0, 0.4)
160–164	1100	4.1	0.1		—
165+	1714	4.4	0.1		0.2 (−0.0, 0.4)
BMI				<0.0001		<0.0001
<18.5	3988	4.8	0.0		0.5 (0.4, 0.6)
18.5–24.9	3319	4.4	0.0		—
25.0–29.9	1546	4.2	0.1		−0.2 (−0.3, −0.0)
30+	751	4.1	0.1		−0.2 (−0.4, −0.0)
Education of head				<0.0001		<0.0001
<5 (primary or less)	2753	4.2	0.0		−0.1 (−0.3, −0.0)
5 to <11	3224	4.3	0.1		—
11 to <16	3042	4.4	0.1		0.1 (−0.0, 0.2)
≥16 (university)	515	4.7	0.1		0.3 (0.1, 0.6)
Wealth index, quintiles§				0.481		0.972
Q1	4423	4.3	0.0		−0.0 (−0.2, 0.2)
Q2	2215	4.5	0.1		0.1 (−0.1, 0.3)
Q3	1859	4.4	0.1		0.1 (−0.1, 0.3)
Q4	1107	4.4	0.1		—
Food insecurity in the home				<0.0001		<0.0001
No	3283	4.6	0.0		—
Mild	3398	4.4	0.0		−0.2 (−0.3, −0.0)
Moderate	1806	4.1	0.1		−0.4 (−0.7, −0.1)
Severe	1116	4.0	0.1		−0.5 (−0.7, −0.3)
Urbanicity				0.509		0.834
Big cities|	1011	43	0.1		—
100.001 a 1.000.000 population	2485	4.5	0.0		0.2 (−0.0, 0.3)
0 a 100000 population	3609	4.3	0.1		0.0 (−0.2, 0.2)
Disperse population	2499	4.3	0.1		0.0 (−0.2, 0.3)
Country region				0.721		0.274
Central	2280	4.4	0.0		—
Atlantic (north)	2013	4.2	0.1		−0.2 (−0.3, −0.0)
Oriental	1844	4.6	0.1		0.1 (−0.0, 0.3)
Pacific (west)	1205	4.3	0.1		−0.1 (−0.3, 0.1)
Bogotá	624	4.3	0.1		−0.2 (−0.5, 0.0)
Amazonia-Orinoquia	1638	4.3	0.1		−0.1 (−0.3, 0.0)

n The analyzed sample may be less than 9604 due to missing values. Based on FFQ. ^†Test for linear trend for ordinal predictors. For sex, urbanicity, and country region is from ANOVA. All tests incorporated the complex sampling survey design. ^‡From linear regression models with the number of meals as continuous result and indicator variables in the table as predictors except for height and BMI. The estimates for education come from a model that excludes the wealth index and food security, which could be on the causal path. The wealth index estimates excluded food security. ^§The wealth index is a composite measure of a household’s cumulative living standard. The wealth index is calculated using easy-to-collect data on a household’s ownership of selected assets such as televisions and bicycles, materials used for housing construction, type of water supply, and sanitation facilities. | Bogotá, Barranquilla, Medellín, CAli.