Author
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BARANOWSKI, TOM - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) |
Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter Publication Acceptance Date: 10/1/2011 Publication Date: 11/7/2012 Citation: Baranowski, T. 2012. Chapter 4: 24-hour recall and diet record methods. In Willett, W., editor. Nutritional Epidemiology. 3rd edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 49-69. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The two methods described in this chapter, the 24-hour dietary recall (24hdr) and the food record (FR) method, are the currently preferred methods of dietary intake assessment, and are based on foods and amounts actually consumed by an individual on one or more specific days. This minimizes some sources of error. If a suitable number of recalls or records are collected over a long period (e.g., six recalls or records per individual spaced over a 12 month period), these methods may also be used to estimate usual intake in prospective studies. The number of days required depends on the day-to-day variability (a major source of error for estimating usual intake) of the food groups or nutrients of interest and the precision desired. Other methods like food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) and diet histories report usual intake over longer periods of time and minimize error of day to day consumption, but introduce errors of memory for estimation and averaging over long time intervals. The short-term methods allow greater specificity for describing foods and food preparation methods, and flexibility for analyzing the data. However, due to the extensive effort required to collect and process multiple days of food records or recalls, these methods are infrequently used as the primary method for estimating usual intake in large scale epidemiologic research. As new technology decreases the errors, costs and participant burden of these methods, they should become more widely used. |