Nutritional balance of cheese (inferential statistics) - 2012

[PEREZGONZALEZ Jose D (2012). Nutritional balance of cheese (inferential statistics). Knowledge (ISSN 2324-1624), 2013, pages 116-120.] [DOI] [Printer friendly]

Cheese's BNI (inferences)

Perezgonzalez assessed the nutritional balance of cheese5 in 20121, as part of a research on the nutritional composition of food in New Zealand. This article provides inferential information about the population of products under research (foodBNI) as well as about a hypothetical diet based on those products (dietBNI).

foodBNI

The population of cheeses appears unbalanced (illustration 1). Indeed, it can be inferred, with a 95% degree of confidence, that the median nutritional balance is located somewhere between BNI 123 and BNI 132, and the mean a bit higher, somewhere between BNI 126 and BNI 134, thus indicative of a tendency (skewness) towards higher unbalance.

Illustration 1: Food's nutritional balance
Non-parametric BNI WHO US/CAN AUS/NZ UK
Median CI95 lower 122.64 138.54 107.05 110.02 106.04
Median CI95 upper 132.44 147.90 119.07 119.54 118.04
SPR lower 5.39 10.08 4.28 10.01 4.30
SPR upper 15.20 19.45 16.31 19.52 16.29
Parametric BNI WHO US/CAN AUS/NZ UK
Mean CI95 lower 126.02 142.44 107.03 113.91 106.20
Mean CI95 upper 134.23 150.27 117.09 121.87 116.22
SD CI95 lower 7.99 7.63 9.80 7.76 9.77
SD CI95 upper 13.57 12.95 16.64 13.16 16.59
(95% confidence interval's lower and upper bounds)

Similar nutritional profiles appear when using other international recommended dietary intakes (RDIs). Although correlations between indexes are moderate to high (illustration 2). These correlations would occur by chance less than two times in 100; thus it can be inferred that they truly reflect an underlying relationship between international indexes.

Illustration 2: Correlations between international RDIs
r / rho BNI WHO US/CAN AUS/NZ UK
BNI CI95 lower .408 .653 .752 .668
BNI CI95 upper .959 1.000 1.000 1.000
WHO CI95 lower .654 .103 .418 .104
WHO CI95 upper 1.000 .780 .963 .781
US/CAN CI95 lower .614 .253 .553 .943
US/CAN CI95 upper 1.000 .876 1.000 1.000
AUS/NZ CI95 lower .805 .593 .573 .537
AUS/NZ CI95 upper 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000
UK CI95 lower .616 .246 .969 .543
UK CI95 upper 1.000 .872 1.000 1.000
(95% confidence interval's lower and upper bounds)

dietBNI

As part of a hypothetical diet in which all products contributed the same weight of cheese, the resulting nutritional balance would still be unbalanced, with 95% confidence of it ranging somewhere between BNI 120 and BNI 130. However, differences in international RDIs become more apparent at this level, as this diet would "worsen" under WHO's RDIs but would "benefit" more under US', Australia's and UK's RDIs.

Illustration 3: Diet's nutritional balance
CI95 Protein Carbs Sugar Fat Sat.fat Fiber Sodium
lower 20.1 0.8 0.7 24.9 16.2 0.0 0.669
upper 24.9 1.2 1.0 30.8 20.2 0.0 0.827
CI95 International RDIs BNI WHO US/CAN AUS/NZ UK
lower (diet) 120.35 140.35 104.00 105.99 104.00
upper (diet) 129.68 149.68 111.86 114.29 111.86
(Values per 100g; *carbs' upper and lower bounds are reversed6)

In any case, the most visible differences between the lower and upper bounds of this confidence interval are the levels of fat, saturated fat and sodium that these products provide to the diet.

Illustration 4: dietBNI CI95 lower bound
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Illustration 5: dietBNI CI95 upper bound
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ideal % = grey cells; actual % = asterisk (*)

Study's scope

The sample was a convenient one, although no particular bias in the selection of cheeses was evident. The sample included both local and international cheeses. Even so, prudence may be appropriate, and generalization may be limited to New Zealand (nationwide) until future studies replicate this research. These results may also be of interest to food researchers, dietitians, food policy makers and consumers.


Author

Jose D PEREZGONZALEZ (2013). Massey University, Turitea Campus, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand. (JDPerezgonzalezJDPerezgonzalez).

Want to know more?

BNI analyses of individual cheeses
You can access either the BNI™ database or the 'BNI™ journal (2013, issue 2) - Cheesy cheese' for individual nutrition analyses of each cheese in the sample.
WikiofScience - Nutritional balance of cheese (further knowledge)
These WikiofScience pages provide introductory and descriptive analyses about the nutritional balance of cheese.
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.

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