Do we eat less fat, or just report so?

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine secular trends in diet reporting error. METHODS: Dietary information was obtained from 228 Danish men and women in 1987 ± 88, and from 122 men and women in 1993 ± 94. RESULTS: Bias in dietary reporting of energy and protein intake was assessed by comparing reported intake with intake data, estimated from 24 h nitrogen output, validated by administering P-aminobenzoic acid, and estimated 24 h energy expenditure. Total energy was under-reported more than energy from protein at both surveys, suggesting that energy from other nutrients, like fat andaor carbohydrate, must have been under-reported too. There was a greater under-reporting for energy than for protein in 1993 ± 94 (29%) than in 1987 ± 88 (15%). Obesity was positively associated with under-reporting, both in 1987 ± 88 and in 1993 ± 94. CONCLUSION: The higher macro-nutrient speci®c error in 1993 ± 94 compared to 1987 ± 88 may re¯ect a trend to increasingly omitting fat andaor carbohydrate-rich foods in dietary reporting. This may be a consequence of increased awareness of diet intake, which, in turn, may be related to intensi®ed public health campaigns to reduce intake of fat andaor simple carbohydrate. These results may have consequences for our understanding of the apparent decline in dietary fat and associated health bene®ts.

Comparison of food consumption and nutrient intake assessed with three dietary assessment methods: results of the German National Nutrition Survey II

“…In the literature, foods rich in sugar and/or fat as well as alcoholic beverages are often found to be underreported [56][57][58]. In the present study, the consumption of pastries, sweets, and ice cream is also to a considerable amount lower in underreporters than in plausible reporters in all three assessment methods.…”

The nutrition transition in Spain: a European Mediterranean country

“…That means that we underemphasized trends related to decreased intake and overemphasized trends related to increased intake. There is a possibility reported elsewhere in Europe that higher fat foods and total fat in general are undermeasured more in the 1990s than earlier; however there is no literature on the measurement of other food components (Heitmann et al, 2000;Lafay et al, 1998).…”

Dietary glycemic index and glycemic load in relation to risk of overweight in Japanese children and adolescents: the Ryukyus Child Health Study

“…Although consistent misreporting across all types of foods would likely have little influence on dietary GI and energy-adjusted GL and fiber values, studies have indicated that overweight persons may selectively underreport their intake of fatty or sugary foods. 43,44 We cannot predict whether possible selective misreporting of dietary intake would systematically deflate or inflate the estimates of these dietary variables. In any case, random misclassification in our study was likely, and likely influenced the results by attenuating the association with overweight.…”