The National Cancer Institute’s Dietary Assessment Primer: A Resource for Diet Research

Abstract

This monograph describes the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Dietary Assessment Primer, a web resource developed to help researchers choose the best available dietary assessment approach to achieve their research objective. All self-report instruments have error, but understanding the nature of that error can lead to better assessment, analysis, and interpretation of results. The Primer includes profiles of the major self-report dietary assessment instruments including guidance on the best uses of each instrument; discussion of validation and measurement error generally and with respect to each instrument; guidance for choosing a dietary assessment approach for different research questions; and additional resources such as a glossary, references, and overviews of specific/important issues in the field. This monograph also describes some future research needs in the field of dietary assessment.

The Use of Digital Images in 24-Hour Recalls May Lead to Less Misestimation of Portion Size Compared with Traditional Interviewer-Administered Recalls

“…Indeed, continued technological advances in the capture of dietary intake data (11)(12)(13), including the use of smart phones to capture images before and after eating combined with fiducial markers that provide an aid to automated volume estimation, have the potential to enhance the accuracy with which amounts of food consumed can be captured. Such advances may be accompanied by disadvantages, such as the reactivity that is inherent with real-time recording (4,25), as well as lapses in data collection (e.g., missing images or difficulty identifying the foods photographed and FIGURE 2 Agreement between log(Amount eaten, g) and the log of the ratio between reported to true portion sizes for all foods and drinks for which matches were reported, based on Automated Multiple-Pass Method respondents (n = 41 individuals and 900 observations). their portions).…”

“…their portions). As a result, it is imperative to continue to weigh the pros and cons of different methods of data capture, including portion sizes, for different study types and research objectives (4,25). This extends to the use of the ASA24 to collect food records, a capability added in the latest version; the validity of ASA24 records has not yet been evaluated.…”

The International Consortium for Quality Research on Dietary Sodium/Salt (TRUE) position statement on the use of 24‐hour, spot, and short duration (<24 hours) timed urine collections to assess dietary sodium intake

“…This position statement provides recommendations for minimum standards related to the use of 24‐hour, spot, or short duration (<24 hours) timed urine collections to assess usual dietary sodium intake in healthy people (A spot urine collection is a single‐voided urine collection that is not specifically timed, including untimed first morning voids). This statement does not focus on dietary instruments as the TRUE Consortium and others have developed detailed recommendations related to their use in nutrition research . To our knowledge, there is no comprehensive recommendation available for the use of urinary biomarkers in assessing usual sodium intake in nutrition research.…”

“…Systematic error can be constant or vary depending on the level of sodium intake or other factors (eg, varying degrees of non‐adherence with urine collection). This implies that when assessing population average intake, the prime concern is to minimize systematic error (taking into account that random error can affect percentile and prevalence estimates of high or low intake levels), while research assessing sodium intake in relation to health outcomes of individuals must minimize both random error and systematic error …”

“…This statement does not focus on dietary instruments as the TRUE Consortium and others have developed detailed recommendations related to their use in nutrition research. [9][10][11][12] To our knowledge, there is no comprehensive recommendation available for the use of urinary biomarkers in assessing usual sodium intake in nutrition research. In developing the position statement and recommendations, the TRUE consortium formed a scientific committee with expertise in nutrition and specifically dietary sodium, public health, epidemiology, statistics, physiology, and hypertension (https ://warwi ck.…”