Nutritional Epidemiology Flashcards
How do dietitians and PHN use epidemiology?
Epi generates :
- the current knowledge base about disease causation
- the current knowledge base about effectiveness of interventions
- series of methods for investigating what we still don’t know
PROVIDES THE EVIDENCE BASE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS AND ACTION INCLUDING PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION
How does epidemiology uses skills of dietitians and PHN?
In terms of which factors make people at risk of / protect from disease.
When diet is the factor under investigation
Explain the epidemiological triad
A concept re the development of the disease and gives a clue to cure or prevent disease.
Host factors - intrinsic factor (susceptibility or response to disease)
Agent - the cause of the disease
Environment - extrinsic factor (geology, climate, sanitation, health services)
What are some challenges in public health nutrition today?
- deficiency problems in the developing world
- chronic disease problems in the developed world
What is the use of estimating dietary intake when used in nutritional epidemiology?
To monitor trends in population food habits in monitoring and surveillance
What are the 4 methods of dietary intake ?
- diet history
- food records - weighed or unweighted
- food recalls
- food frequency questionnaire
What is a diet history method and what are its pros and cons?
Consist is a face to face interview, cross check food frequency list and a 3day food record.
Pros
- Low subject involvement
- can focus on particular aspects
Cons
- relies on memory
- interview bias
What is a diet history method used for in nutrition epidemiology?
To construct food frequency questionnaire food lists.
Are diet history methods suitable for large population studies?
No
What is a food records and it’s pros and cons?
Records kept for 24hrs, 3, 4 or 7 days
Assisted by photography and IT
Pros
- not reliant on memory
- no interviewer bias
Cons
- high participant burden
- can alter the usual intake of the subject
What is a food record used for in nutrition epidemiology?
Mostly used as a measure of internal validity like used to validate other tools
What is a 24 hour recall and it’s pros and cons?
Interviewer administered or self entered into computer programs
Use multiple pass technique to increase accuracy
Pros
- fast and easy to use
- may be repeated at intervals to improve validity
Cons
- less valid estimate of usual diet - highly varied diet poaterns
- diet / disease relationship less clear
What is a 24 hr recall used for in nutrition epidemiology?
For large population studies and for food nutrition monitoring to construct food lists for FFQ
What is molecular nutrition paradigm?
The integration of genetic principles and technologies with nutrition and food science
What is the new nutrition science paradigm?
Aims to integrate social and environmental dimensions with the classical biochemical and physiological
