Family food purchases and home food consumption: comparison of nutrient contents

Abstract

I. Estimates of nutrient intakes based on food purchasing records modelled on the National Food Survey (NFS) were compared with nutrient intakes calculated from food consumption records based on a semi-weighed method, a combination of weighing and household measurement techniques. Of eighty-two families in Cambridge who completed the study, thirty-two were volunteers and fifty were from a random sample in which the co-operation rate was 73%.2. The estimated energy and nutrient contents of the Cambridge food purchases were very similar to those reported by the NFS for families of similar composition and income. The energy intakes obtained by the semi-weighed method were compared with results from twenty-five studies of energy intake based on quantitative measurements of food consumption: there was no evidence to suggest that the semi-weighed method consistently under-or overestimated intakes in the Cambridge subjects.3. Purchases adjusted to allow for waste and consumption of food by visitors contained significantly more energy, protein, carbohydrate, calcium, iron and dietary fibre than measured home food consumption. There was no significant difference in the nutrient content of purchases and consumption per 4.184 MJ (I000 kcal), with the exception of Fe and ascorbic acid.4. Measured wastage of edible food in thirty-one families averaged 3.2% of purchases. Estimate of wastage in all eighty-two families was 3.8%, and consumption of food by visitors accounted for 3.0% of purchases.5. The excess of purchases over measured home food energy intake is probably accounted for by a net increase in larder stocks rather than wastage, consumption of food by visitors, or under-recording of intakes.Studies of food purchases have been used since 1861 to investigate the relations between income, diet and health (Medical

Dietary patterns and their socio-demographic determinants in 10 European countries: data from the DAFNE databank

“…The PC1, indicating 'wide-range' food buyers, was more common among households whose head was retired and elderly, possibly indicating infrequent out-of-home consumption. In addition, elderly individuals, particularly women living alone, have often been reported to overpurchase during the survey period and the extra purchasing was occurring throughout the range of foodstuffs (Nelson et al, 1985;Chesher 1997). Higher scores in PC2, which indicated 'beverage and convenience' food buyers, were more common among households located in urban or semiurban areas and among adult Scandinavians living alone.…”

Construction of a modest‐but‐adequate food budget for households with two adults and one pre‐school child: a preliminary investigation

“…The RDA for each household member was first multiplied by the NFS 'net balance' value, a term which approximates for each subject the proportion of the diet obtained from the household food supply (see Glossary). (This calculation differs slightly from that used by the NFS (see Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 1986) in order to take into account the findings of Nelson et al, 1985.) The food purchasing data was then adjusted to bring the nutrient content in line with current recommendations for a healthy diet (see Glossary) by substituting more healthy varieties of food for less healthy within a given food category.…”

“…While such data are readily collected from large numbers of households and deal with actual purchases and expenditure (the substance of any budget), they typically omit food and drink purchased and eaten away from home, such as canteen or school meals, sweets, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. Also, there is evidence that food purchasing surveys distort the usual pattern of purchases and consumption, either by encouraging the use of stored food in surveys in which a larder inventory is included (Hollingsworth & Baines,196l), or by promoting 'over-purchasing' of foodstuffs over and above actual consumption in surveys without a larder inventory [Platt et al, 1964;Nelson et al, 1985). There is also the problem of estimating the nutrient content of food purchases when trying to assess dietary adequacy.…”

The DAFNE databank: the past and future of monitoring the dietary habits of Europeans

“…It should however be pointed out that elderly individuals, particularly women living alone, have often been reported to overpurchase during the survey period. The need to avoid running out of certain foodstuffs and the very act of being surveyed have been reported as stimulating extra purchasing during the recording period (Nelson et al 1985;Chesher 1997). …”