Dietary Reference Intakes and Nutritional Assessments

Question 1

EAR

Answer 1

• Estimated Average Requirement

- average daily nutrient intake that meets requirement of half the healthy individuals in a group

Question 2

RDA

Answer 2

• Recommended Dietary Allowance

- average daily nutrient intake that meets nutritional requirements of nearly all healthy individuals in a group

Question 3

AI

Answer 3

• Adequate Intake
• recommended average daily intake based on observed healthy people in same group
• used when RDA is unavailable

Question 4

UL

Answer 4

• tolerable Upper intake Level
• highest average daily nutrient intake which will likely pose no risk of adverse health effects to almost all individuals in general population
• as intake increases above UL, risk of adverse effects increases

Question 5

AMDR

Answer 5

• Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges
• range of intakes of energy source associated with a reduced risk of chronic disease that will still provide adequate amount of essential nutrients

Question 6

DRI

Answer 6

• Daily Recommended Intake
• geared towards chronic disease prevention (not deficiency)
• specific for different life stages (age, pregnancy, gender)

Question 7

Purpose of DRIs

Answer 7

• planning diets for groups and individuals
• assessing adequacy of diets
• nutrition policy
  providing nutrition education and guidance
• standard for nutrition labeling and fortification

Question 8

Common reasons for adjusting RDA for a population

Answer 8

age, pregnancy, lactation, smoking, and physical activity level

Question 9

Strengths of 24-hour diet recall assesments

Answer 9

more control and more accurate (done in one-on-one interviews)

Question 10

Limitations of 24-hour diet recall assesments

Answer 10

• bias (underreporting bad foods or overreporting healthy/brand names)
• recall bias (forgetting what you ate over time)

Question 11

Stengths of food frequency questionnaire

Answer 11

• can be self-administered
• machine readable
• inexpensive
• more representative of “usual” intake
• good for large populations

Question 12

Limitations of food frequency questionnaire

Answer 12

• overestimates
• ability of subject to accurately describe diet
• respondents must be literate