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Assessment of habitual energy and macronutrient intake in adults: comparison of a seven day food record with a dietary history interview

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 56, pages 105–113 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: To examine the quantitative agreement between a 7 day food record and a diet history interview when these are conducted under the same conditions and to evaluate whether the two methods assess habitual diet intake differently among subgroups of age and body mass index (BMI).

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Population study, Denmark.

Subjects: A total of 175 men and 173 women aged 30–60 y, selected randomly from a larger population sample of Danish adults.

Interventions: All subjects had habitual diet intake assessed by a diet history interview and completed a 7 day food record within 3 weeks following the interview. The diet history interview and coding of records were performed by the same trained dietician.

Main outcome measure: Median between-method difference in assessment of total energy intake, absolute intake of macronutrients, and nutrient energy percentages. Difference between reported energy intake from both methods and estimated energy expenditure in different subgroups.

Results: Energy and macronutrient intake was assessed slightly higher by the 7 day food record than by the diet history interview, but in absolute terms the differences were negligible. The between-method difference in assessment of total energy intake appeared to be stable over the range of age and BMI in both sexes. As compared to estimated total energy expenditure, both diet assessment methods underestimated energy intake by approximately 20%. For both methods the under-reporting increased by BMI in both sexes and by age in men.

Conclusions: Energy and macronutrient intake data collected under even conditions by either a 7 day food record or a diet history interview may be collapsed and analysed independent of the underlying diet method. Both diet methods, however, appear to underestimate energy intake dependent on age and BMI.

Sponsorship: Danish Medical Research Council, the FREJA programme.

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Acknowledgements

The establishment of The Research Unit for Dietary Studies was financed by the FREJA (Female Researchers in Joint Action) programme from the Danish Medical Research Council.

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Author notes

  1. S Høidrup: Guarandor: S Høidrup.

  2. S Høidrup, AH Andreasen, M Osler, AN Pedersen, LM Jørgensen, T Jørgensen, M Schroll and BL Heitmann: Contributors: All authors contributed to the writing of the paper. SH participated in interpretation and discussion of results and wrote the paper. AHA did the statistical analysis and contributed to interpretation of results. MO, ANP and LMJ participated in interpretation and discussion of results and reviewed the paper. TJ and MS were responsible for the design of the study and data collection and reviewed the paper. BLH had the idea for the analysis, participated in interpretation and discussion of results and reviewed the paper.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Copenhagen County Centre for Preventive Medicine, Research Unit for Dietary Studies, Medical Dept M, Glostrup University Hospital, Glostrup, Denmark

    S Høidrup, AH Andreasen, M Osler, AN Pedersen, LM Jørgensen, T Jørgensen, M Schroll & BL Heitmann

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Correspondence to S Høidrup.

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Høidrup, S., Andreasen, A., Osler, M. et al. Assessment of habitual energy and macronutrient intake in adults: comparison of a seven day food record with a dietary history interview. Eur J Clin Nutr 56, 105–113 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601292

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