Comparison of the characteristics of participants who consumed two or three meals per day
| Number of meals (per day) | 2 | 3 | P value |
| Age (years) | 49.5 (39.3, 60.5) | 64.0 (51.0, 71.0) | 0.001 |
| Sex (male/female) | 16 (72.7)/6 (27.3) | 74 (51.7)/69 (48.3) | 0.07 |
| Snack (no/yes) | 2 (10.5)/17 (89.5) | 18 (13.1)/119 (86.9) | 1 |
| Exercise (no/yes) | 16 (76.2)/5 (23.8) | 64 (52.0)/59 (48.0) | 0.06 |
| Exercise at work (no/yes) | 13 (72.2)/5 (27.8) | 94 (87.0)/14 (13.0) | 0.15 |
| Smoke (never/previous/current) | 9 (40.9)/6 (27.3)/7 (31.8) | 72 (50.3)/49 (34.3)/22 (15.4) | 0.2 |
| Alcohol intake (none/intermediate/large) | 11 (50.0)/6 (27.3)/5 (22.7) | 79 (55.2)/38 (26.6)/26 (18.2) | 0.78 |
| Insomnia (no/yes) | 19 (86.4)/3 (13.6) | 123 (89.1)/15 (10.9) | 0.72 |
| Sleep apnea syndrome (no/yes) | 15 (78.9)/4 (21.1) | 96 (77.4)/28 (22.6) | 1 |
| Night-shift work (no/yes) | 13 (76.5)/4 (23.5) | 107 (98.2)/2 (1.8) | 0.003 |
| P (HU) | 35.8 (30.0, 41.7) | 37.8 (31.3, 43.5) | 0.25 |
| L (HU) | 55.8 (49.0, 59.9) | 54.0 (43.8, 60.0) | 0.76 |
| S (HU) | 49.8 (46.1, 53.2) | 48.4 (44.7, 51.8) | 0.26 |
| Visceral fat area (cm2) | 102.4 (81.2, 132.9) | 121.0 (86.0, 160.6) | 0.27 |
| Subcutaneous fat area (cm2) | 184.7 (143.8, 258.8) | 181.6 (110.9, 245.0) | 0.41 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 29.2 (25.6, 31.3) | 26.5 (23.8, 31.4) | 0.17 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 100.4 (90.6, 105.9) | 97.0 (89.0, 107.2) | 0.65 |
| Duration of diabetes (years) | 10.0 (6.5, 18.5) | 10.0 (3.0, 18.0) | 0.57 |
| HbA1c (mmol/mol) | 87.0 (68.0, 103.0) | 74.0 (62.0, 95.0) | 0.11 |
| HbA1c (%) | 10.1 (8.4, 11.6) | 8.9 (7.8, 10.8) | 0.11 |
| Fasting plasma glucose (mmol/l) | 10.3 (7.7, 12.3) | 8.0 (6.7, 9.8) | 0.04 |
| AST (U/L) | 24.0 (17.3, 44.5) | 23.0 (17.0, 35.5) | 0.56 |
| ALT (U/L) | 37.5 (19.5, 66.8) | 25.0 (16.0, 46.0) | 0.12 |
| γ-GTP (U/L) | 29.0 (23.3, 46.8) | 35.0 (20.0, 61.0) | 0.78 |
| AMY (U/L) | 43.0 (38.8, 58.3) | 56.0 (45.0, 73.5) | 0.03 |
| BUN (mmol/L) | 5.0 (4.0, 5.7) | 5.4 (4.3, 6.1) | 0.61 |
| Cre (µmol/L) | 70.7 (53.0, 79.6) | 61.9 (53.0, 79.6) | 0.39 |
| UA (µmol/L) | 345.0 (321.2, 398.5) | 333.1 (267.7, 398.5) | 0.18 |
| CRP (mg/L) | 1.0 (0.5, 3.0) | 0.8 (0.4, 3.0) | 0.65 |
| T-Cho (mmol/L) | 5.0 (4.5, 6.1) | 4.9 (4.3, 5.6) | 0.31 |
| HDL-C (mmol/L) | 1.0 (0.9, 1.2) | 1.2 (1.0, 1.4) | 0.03 |
| LDL-C (mmol/L) | 3.1 (2.3, 4.0) | 2.9 (2.3, 3.6) | 0.35 |
| TG (mmol/L) | 1.5 (1.2, 3.4) | 1.6 (1.1, 2.1) | 0.39 |
Values are median (first quartile, third quartile) for continuous variables and number (percentage) of participants for categorical variables.
P value is calculated based on Mann-Whitney U test (for continuous variables) or Fisher’s exact test (for categorical variables).
ALT, alanine transaminase; AMY, amylase activities; AST, aspartate transaminase; BUN, blood urea nitrogen; Cre, creatinine; CRP, C reactive protein concentrations; HbA1c, hemoglobin A1c; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; L, mean CT values for the liver; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; P, mean CT values for the pancreas; S, mean CT values for the spleen; T-Cho, total cholesterol; TG, triglyceride; UA, uric acid; γ-GTP, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase.