The 24-h food list represents a promising new dietary assessment tool that can be used as part of a blended approach combining multiple data sources for valid estimation of usual dietary intake in large-scale cohort studies.

No abstract

Next to the information on frequency of food consumption, information on consumption-day amounts is important to estimate usual dietary intake in epidemiological studies. Our objective was to identify determinants of consumption-day amounts to derive person-specific standard consumption-day amounts applicable for the estimation of usual dietary intake using separate sources to assesss information on consumption probability and amount consumed. 24-h Dietary recall data from the German National Nutrition Survey II (n = 8522; aged 20–80 years) conducted between 2005 and 2007 were analysed for determinants of consumption-day amounts of thirty-eight food and beverage groups using LASSO variable selection for linear mixed-effects models. Determinants included sex, age, BMI, smoking status, years of education, household net income, living status and employment status. Most often, sex, age and smoking status were selected as predictors for consumption-day amounts across thirty-eight food groups. In contrast, living with a partner, employment status and household net income were less frequently chosen. Overall, different determinants were of relevance for different food groups. The number of selected determinants ranged from eight for coffee and juice to zero for cabbage, tea, root vegetables, leafy vegetables, fruit vegetables, legumes, offal, vegetable oils, and other fats. For the estimation of usual dietary intake in a combined approach with a 24-h food list, person-specific standard consumption-day amounts could be used. Sex, age and smoking status were shown to be the most relevant predictors in our analysis. Their impact on the estimation of usual dietary intake needs to be evaluated in future studies.

Epidemiological studies link carbohydrate quality to cardiovascular diseases (CVD). In particular, increased consumption of dietary fibre and whole-grain are discussed as protective, whereas a higher dietary glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) may increase CVD risk (1) . This study determined whether these aspects of carbohydrate quality during puberty, a period characterised by physiological insulin resistance, are already related to carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in younger adulthood, a surrogate marker of early atherosclerosis predictive for future cardiovascular events (2) . The analysis was based on data of 194 participants (111 girls and 83 boys) from the DONALD Study with at least two 3-day weighed dietary records (range 2-6) during puberty (girls, 9-14 years, boys, 10-15 years) and one sonographic measurement of the IMT in younger adulthood (18-39 years; IMT averaged from 16 measurements on 4 images). Multivariable linear regression models were used to analyse the associations between carbohydrate quality and IMT. Sex, age (adult), smokers in the household, maternal overweight, maternal education and breastfeeding were considered as potential confounders.Tests for interaction indicated that associations of pubertal GI, fibre intake and fibre intake from fruits with adult IMT differed by sex (p interaction = 0·04, p interaction = 0·02, p interaction = 0·01 respectively). Thus, analyses were run both in the total and sex-stratified cohort. In the total cohort, there was no statistically significant association between any of the investigated aspects of carbohydrate quality and IMT after adjustment for potential confounders (p for trend > 0·05). Sex-specific analyses showed an inverse association between dietary fibre intake from fruits and IMT for men only (p for trend = 0·002, for women: p for trend = 0·12).Overall, this study does not support a prospective relevance of GI, GL, fibre and whole-grain intake in puberty for IMT in younger adulthood. It remains to be determined, whether effects evolve at older age, or whether carbohydrate quality in later life is more relevant for CVD risk.

Background/Aims: Data from the ongoing, open-cohort Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed (DONALD) study were used to describe warm family lunch meals and the association of the lunch composition with total diet quality. Methods: 2,095 three-day weighed dietary records, collected between 2004 and 2009, from a 4- to 18-year-old DONALD study subgroup were used. Results: Warm lunch (eating occasions between 11.30 a.m. and 2.29 p.m. including at least one course that is typically consumed warm) was eaten on 68.8% of all record days. Meat lunch (>50%) was predominant, followed by vegetarian (25%), fish (13%) and sweet lunch meals (3%). The prevalence of desserts at lunch was high and beverages were drunk at 80% of lunch meals. A meat lunch was associated with a higher protein (+1.4% energy intake, %E) and fat intake (+1.7%E) than a sweet lunch; also densities of vitamin A, folate and iron were higher. A dessert at lunch decreased protein intake slightly (–0.2%E), but increased carbohydrate (+0.7%E) and added sugar intake (+1.4%E) as well as density of calcium (+18 mg/MJ). Conclusion: Our study proves the impact of lunch on daily dietary quality and yields valuable insights on the development of food and meal-based dietary guidelines.