Week 2 - Measuring Food Intake + Food Behaviours

Question 1

Nutrition assessment

Answer 1

• Cornerstone of nutrition sciences
• Allows investigation and interpretation of relationships between diet and disease
• Allows for assessment of individual and population nutrition status
• Important to determine the likelihood of a nutrient deficiency
• Establishes nature and aetiology (the cause) of a problem
• In a community it identifies the extent and distribution of the problem
• To identify associated environmental factors
• Helps institute preventative programs

Question 2

4 parts of nutritional assessment

Answer 2

Anthropometric
Biochemical
Clinical
Dietary

Question 3

Anthropometric assessment

Answer 3

• Height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, skinfolds
• Important to establish weight status, BMI and waist to hip ratio
• Important to monitor overtime
• Taken periodically
• Compared to previous measures or standards specific to age/gender
• Does not indicate anything about nutrients
• May give indication to a nutrient deficiency/excess
• Are variable person to person
• Can be taken reliably, easily and accurately
• Useful when there is a chronic imbalance in one’s diet

Question 4

BMI

Answer 4

• Evaluation of bodyweight considering height
• Has many limitations as it does not consider body composition
• Those who are elderly or with a physical disability may have muscle wastage and therefore are considered an exception
  Weight(kg) / height (m2)

Question 5

Biochemical assessment

Answer 5

• Includes blood tests, urine samples
• Used to assess body stores
• Levels are compared to normal values for a similar population
• Important for detection of nutrient deficiency
• Uncovers early signs before symptoms appear
• Can also confirm other suspicions

Question 6

Clinical assessment

Answer 6

• The use of a number of physical signs that are known to be associated with malnutrition and deficiencies

Question 7

Types of dietary recall

Answer 7

24 hour dietary recall
Food frequency questionnaire
Food record
Diet history

Question 8

24 hour dietary recall

Answer 8

• Recalling intake of the past 24 hours
• Can establish a recent food pattern if repeated regularly
• Useful for large populations for a mean intake
• Weekends and weekdays
• First pass; list all food and drink consumed
• Second pass; detailed description of each food (brand, cooking method)
• Third pass; estimate amount of food consumed
• Fourth pass; recall is reviewed and supplements added if any

Question 9

Strengths of 24 hour dietary recall

Answer 9

• Quick
• Can be used with illiterate subjects
• Only short term memory recall
• Short interview length

Question 10

Limitations of 24 hour recall

Answer 10

• Relies on memory
• Subject to bias
• Need trained interviewers
• Can be expensive of collected via interview
• Doesn’t show variation in the diet

Question 11

Food frequency questionnaire

Answer 11

• List of foods (general or specific)
• Measures frequency at which groups of foods are consumed during a certain time period
• Can be used to predict intakes of certain nutrients or non-nutrients
• Ascertains the mean nutrient intake of a group

Question 12

Strengths of FFQ

Answer 12

• Low burden
• Easy to process and collect results
• Can be standardised
  inexpensive

Question 13

Limitations of FFQ

Answer 13

• List may not contain all foods
• Seasonality
• Validity and feasibility not clearly established
• Literacy and numeracy skills needed
• Specific to a population

Question 14

Food record

Answer 14

• Estimated food record or weighed food record
• Ranges from 1-7 days
• The greater the number of days the greater the accuracy, but can discourage participation
• Usually only used in research

Question 15

Estimated food record

Answer 15

• Not reliant on memory
• Measure and write all things consumed
• Brand names and method of cooking included
• Mixed dishes are complex
  Increases accuracy

Question 16

Weighed food record

Answer 16

• Weigh and write down food (using scale)
• Most precise level available
• Brand names, prep included
• Mixed dishes are complex
• Burdensome

Question 17

Strengths of food record

Answer 17

• Gold standard
• Assess current diet as consumed
• Precision of portion sizes

Question 18

Limitations of food record

Answer 18

• Underreporting
• High burden
• Literacy and numeracy skills required
• Habitual eating patterns may change
• Requires multiple records to be accurate

Question 19

Diet history

Answer 19

• Estimates food intake and meal patterns over a long period of time
• Includes; interview, questionnaire and a home record for 3 days
• Combines pattern of intake with specific nutrient information

Question 20

Strengths of diet history

Answer 20

• Comprehensive information can be obtained about portions and cooking methods
• Employed in clinical practices
• Useful to identify a usual intake

Question 21

Limitations of dietary intake

Answer 21

• Expensive
• Unsuitable for large population
• Biased
• No standardised method
• Time consuming
• Insufficient quantitative value

Question 22

Feasibility

Answer 22

Determines how realistic results are

Question 23

Food databases

Answer 23

Will give specific nutrient breakdowns of each food

Question 24

Behaviour definition

Answer 24

The action or reaction of an organism, usually in relation to the environment

Question 25

Food definition

Answer 25

Any substance, usually composed primarily of carbohydrates, fats, water and/or proteins, that can be eaten or drunk by an animals for nutrition or pleasure

Question 26

Food behaviour

Answer 26

• At a basic level it includes; buying, eating and drinking
• Assessed by biologists (physiological), psychologists (objectivity), sociologists (social influences), anthropologists (cultural interactions) and political scientists (globalisation)

Question 27

Food behaviour decisions

Answer 27

• What options are available right now?
• Appeal
• Familiarity
• Taste
• Health
• Time
• Money
• Social influence

Question 28

Terminology

Answer 28

Satiety
Disinhibition
Emotionality
Externality
Satiation
Passive overeating
Conditioned taste aversion

Question 29

Observational study designs

Answer 29

Investigation of behaviour with no intervention
Ecological
Cross sectional
Case control
Cohort

Question 30

Ecological

Answer 30

• investigates exposures and health outcomes at the group level
• Cross country comparisons
• Migrant studies
• Analysis of trends overtime
• Determine cause
• Useful for generating hypothesis
• The first step in developing a theory

Question 31

Cross sectional

Answer 31

• A descriptive study involving the measurement of exposures and outcomes at one point in time
• Only a snapshot
• Good way to obtain information from a large group of people

Question 32

Case control

Answer 32

• Involves individuals with disease being identified and compared to those without, the exposure of the two groups to the factor being studied are compared
• Quick to complete
• Less costly due to shorter duration and smaller sample size

Question 33

Cohort

Answer 33

• Where a cohort of disease free people are followed overtime
• Baseline information is collected based on exposures of interest
• Participants who developed disease are identified and compared to the exposures that those who remained disease free
• Time and resource intensive
• Provide high quality evidence

Question 34

Experimental study desgins

Answer 34

Randomised control trials

Question 35

Randomised control trials

Answer 35

• Involves participants being assigned to the intervention group or the control group
• After the trial the results of the groups are compared
• Time consuming
• Determine effects of treatment
• Other variable are kept constant
• Is gold standard

Question 36

Weakest to strongest study designs

Answer 36

1. Ecological
2. Cross sectional
3. Case control
4. Cohort
5. Intervention (RCT)