Dietary behaviour is influenced by a complex web of biological, psychological, physiological, social, economic and cultural factors. Understanding socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics that influence food choice may be important in guiding dietary interventions. The present study aimed to identify whether socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics influence food choice in an Irish working population. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2014 as part of the Food Choice at Work Study, a large clustered non-randomised, controlled trial based in county Cork, Ireland. Information regarding food motives was collected at the 3–4 months follow-up. The ‘Food Choice Questionnaire’ was used to measure food motives. Multiple linear regression was conducted to test the association between socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics (age, sex, BMI, education, type of accommodation, living situation, marital status, parental status) and worksite and food motives. A total of 678 employees were included in the analysis. Overall, only a small percentage of food choice was influenced by the characteristics included in this analysis (1·6 to 8·8 %). Sensory appeal and satisfaction were scored most important by all sub-populations. Sex was most often associated with differences in food motives (i.e. all food motives except for familiarity and ethical concern were significantly more important to females compared with males; P = 0·001/P < 0·001). Worksite, age, BMI and marital status also seemed to play a small role in influencing food choice. The results show that food choice is complex and not easily explained by differences in socio-demographic or anthropometric population characteristics.

Increased attention has been paid to circadian patterns and how predisposition to metabolic disorders can be affected by meal timing. Currently, it is not clear which role can be attributed to the foods selected at meals. On a cross-sectional sub-cohort study (815 adults) within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam study, we investigated whether the same foods (vegetables, fruits, refined grains, whole grains, red and processed meats) eaten at different meals (breakfast, lunch or dinner) show different associations with biomarkers of cardiometabolic risk. Meal-specific usual intakes were calculated from multiple 24-h dietary recalls. Multivariable-adjusted linear regression models showed that intake of vegetables at breakfast was associated with lower LDL-cholesterol (−0·37 mmol/l per 50 g; 95 % CI −0·61, −0·12) and vegetables at dinner was associated with higher HDL-cholesterol (0·05 mmol/l per 50 g; 95 % CI 0, 0·10). Fruit intake at breakfast was associated with lower glycated Hb (HbA1c) (−0·06 % per 50 g; 95 % CI −0·10, −0·01) and fruits at dinner with lower C-reactive protein (CRP) (−0·21 mg/l per 50 g; 95 % CI −0·42, −0·01). Red and processed meat intake at breakfast was associated with higher HbA1c (0·25 % per 50 g; 95 % CI 0·05, 0·46) and CRP (0·76 mg/l per 50 g; 95 % CI 0·15, 1·36). Our results suggest that by preferring fruits and vegetables and avoiding red and processed meats at specific meals (i.e. breakfast and dinner), cardiometabolic profiles and ultimately chronic disease risk could be improved. Lunch seemed to be a less important meal in terms of food–biomarker associations.