Chips, crisps & cravers' BNI (description)
This article is a meta-analysis carried out on nine samples of chips6, crisps7 and cravers8 described individually in other articles (see Perezgonzalez, 2012a1_d4) but here combined for the purpose of such meta-analysis. This article provides descriptive information both about the combined sample of products under research (foodBNI) as well as about a hypothetical diet based on those products (dietBNI).
foodBNI
The distribution of nutritional balance is shown in illustration 1. The median was located at BNI 74.58 and the middle 68% of products were located between BNI 49 (P16) and BNI 93 (P84). There was a positive skewness (zSkew=2.69), probably due to a few highly unbalanced foods, some of which also appeared separated from the rest of the distribution. There was also a positive kurtosis (zKurt=2.54), indicative of a distribution more peaked than normal. Notwithstanding this, the mean (72.57) appears more balanced than the median, reflecting a negative ordinal skewness (RSkew=-3.55) for the group at large. That is, the majority of products appeared grouped towards the unbalanced end of the distribution, with a nice sloping towards more balanced products and an abrupt cliff towards more unbalanced products (the high values of the few extreme cases help explain the opposite direction between parametric and non-parametric skewness).
The distribution of nutritional balance varied according to the particular recommended dietary intakes (RDIs) of reference, although all followed a pattern similar to the one just described. This group of products appeared less unbalanced under Australia's, UK's, and US' RDIs than under WHO's RDIs.
Illustration 1: Food's nutritional balance distribution | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
International RDIs | |||||||||
Scale | BNI | WHO | US/CAN | AUS/NZ | UK | ||||
=0 | |||||||||
>0 | |||||||||
≥10 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 | |||||
≥20 | 5 | 16 | 14 | 9 | 13 | ||||
≥30 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 14 | 9 | ||||
≥40 | 15 | 14 | 30 | 28 | 30 | ||||
≥50 | 26 | 26 | 30 | 36 | 33 | ||||
≥60 | 25 | 17 | 39 | 42 | 40 | ||||
≥70 | 34 | 32 | 26 | 29 | 28 | ||||
≥80 | 40 | 39 | 17 | 14 | 13 | ||||
≥90 | 13 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 9 | ||||
≥100 | 11 | 10 | |||||||
≥110 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||||
≥120 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||
≥130 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
≥140 | 2 | 2 | |||||||
≥150 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
≥160 | |||||||||
≥170 | |||||||||
≥180 | |||||||||
≥190 | |||||||||
≥200 | |||||||||
Median | 74.58 | 74.42 | 59.63 | 62.18 | 60.83 | ||||
SPR | 21.52 | 24.92 | 20.39 | 18.88 | 19.60 | ||||
P16 | 49.51 | 42.59 | 36.32 | 41.97 | 40.34 | ||||
P84 | 92.55 | 92.42 | 77.09 | 79.73 | 79.54 | ||||
RSkew | -3.55 | -6.92 | -2.93 | -1.33 | -0.89 | ||||
Mean | 72.57 | 69.86 | 58.96 | 61.93 | 60.40 | ||||
StDev | 23.39 | 26.01 | 21.88 | 20.03 | 21.45 | ||||
zSkew | 2.69 | 1.38 | 1.88 | 2.90 | 1.90 | ||||
zKurt | 2.54 | 1.07 | 1.64 | 2.74 | 1.87 | ||||
Unstandardized | small | medium | large | ( Avg.StDev ) | |||||
effect size9 | 5 | 11 | 18 | ( 23 ) |
Correlations between indexes were high, thus supporting the idea of a common pattern in the distribution of nutritional balance across international indexes for this particular group of products.
Illustration 2: Correlations (Pearson and Spearman) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
r / rho | BNI | WHO | US/CAN | AUS/NZ | UK |
BNI | .989 | .988 | .985 | .980 | |
WHO | .986 | .985 | .962 | .964 | |
US/CAN | .993 | .990 | .982 | .977 | |
AUS/NZ | .989 | .962 | .983 | .990 | |
UK | .984 | .967 | .979 | .990 |
dietBNI
As part of a hypothetical diet where all products contributed the same weight of chips, crisps and cravers, the resulting nutritional balance would improve slightly (more so under Australia's and UK's indexes, when attending to the unstandardized effect size for this group of products).
Illustration 3: Diet's nutritional balance | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Protein | Carbs | Sugar | Fat | Sat.fat | Fiber | Sodium | |||
6.5 | 58.3 | 3.1 | 25.1 | 8.4 | 0.9 | 0.734 | |||
International RDIs | BNI | WHO | US/CAN | AUS/NZ | UK | ||||
(diet) | 66.84 | 66.24 | 52.19 | 52.32 | 50.05 | ||||
(Values per 100g) |
Methods
Research approach
Exploratory study for mapping the nutritional balance of chips, crisps and cravers in New Zealand.
Sample
A sample of 188 chip, crisp and craver products, including diverse brands and flavors, and other relevant categories. Relevant data were collated from previous research after visually ascertaining they shared a similar nutritional profile (see Perezgonzalez, 2012a1_d4). Collating these related samples into one and performing further exploratory analyses help gain an overall view of the nutritional balance of these foods without being too affected by the small numbers of some of the subsamples.
Variables
Variables of interest for this research were the following:
- Weight contribution of seven nutrients (protein, carbohydrate, sugar, fat, saturated fat, fiber and sodium) to 100g of a food product.
- The Balanced Nutrition Index (BNI) of each food product, as calculated from above variables.
- Aggregated information for the sample of products (foodBNI).
- Aggregated information about the individual nutrients for the simulation of hypothetical diets (dietBNI).
Materials & analysis
Once collated, the data were assessed using the Balanced Nutrition Index™ (BNI™) technology (see Perezgonzalez, 2012e5).
SPSS-v18 was used for the computation of variables, including BNI and international indexes, and for descriptive statistical analyses.
Want to know more?
- WikiofScience - Chips, crisps & cravers (index)
- This WikiofScience page contains the full list of topics for chips, crisps and cravers, with links to the appropriate files.
- WikiofScience - Nutritional balance of chips, crisps and cravers (further knowledge)
- Two WikiofScience pages provide further introductory and inferential information about the nutritional balance of chips, crisps and cravers.
- WikiofScience - Nutritional balance of foods
- This WikiofScience page collates information about several foods on a single page and provides useful links to the appropriate files.
Author
Jose D PEREZGONZALEZ (2013). Massey University, Turitea Campus, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand. (JDPerezgonzalez).
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