The pie charts below illustrate the average amounts in usual meals that include three types of ingredients: sodium, saturated fat, and added sugar – all of which will come with detrimental consequences if overconsumed.
Overall, dinner meals accounted the largest proportions for meals containing sodium and saturated fat, while snacks took up the most part for food with added sugar. In addition, breakfast was consistently the lowest percentage for all of the nutrients.
Regarding sodium and saturated fat intake, dinner is the primary contributor to these meals, accounting 43% of sodium intake and 37% of saturated fat consumption. Lunch is the second most dominant for both nutrients, taking up 29% of sodium infused meals and 26% of saturated fat. Meanwhile, breakfast was relatively low for both categories, constituting 14% of sodium intake and 16% of the latter group. Snacks also made up 14% of meals containing sodium, in contrast to 21% of saturated fat intake, which is notably higher.
Regarding typical meals with added sugar, the proportions are very far from consistent. Snacks is the dominant category, constituting 42% of all the meal times. Dinner was the second-highest source for this nutrient, standing at 23%. Meanwhile, the latter groups like breakfast and lunch represented the lowest percentages, amounting to 16% and 19% of the total chart.