Background: Meal pattern analysis can be complex because of the large variability in meal
consumption. The use of aggregated, generic meal data may address some of these issues.
Objective: The objective was to develop a meal coding system and use it to explore meal
patterns. Design: Dietary data were used from the National Adult Nutrition Survey (2008–
2010), which collected 4-d food diary information from 1500 healthy adults. Self-recorded
meal types were listed for each food item. Common food group combinations were identified�…