DINO (Diet In Nutrients Out) – an integrated dietary assessment system

AbstractObjectiveThe current paper describes Diet In Nutrients Out (DINO), an integrated dietary assessment system incorporating dietary data entry and nutritional analysis within one platform for use in dietary assessment in small-scale intervention studies to national surveys.DesignDINO contains >6000 food items, mostly aggregated composites of branded foods, across thirty-one main food groups divided into 151 subsidiary groups for detailed reporting requirements, with fifty-three core nutrient fields.SettingMRC Human Nutrition Research (HNR), Cambridge, UK and MRC Keneba, Gambia.SubjectsDINO is used across dietary assessment projects at HNR and MRC Keneba.ResultsDINO contains macro- and micronutrients as well as additional variables of current research and policy interest, such as caffeine, whole grains, vitamin K and added sugars. Disaggregated data are available for fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and cheese in composite foods, enabling greater accuracy when reporting food consumption or assessing adherence to dietary recommendations. Portion sizes are categorised in metric and imperial weights, with standardised portion sizes for each age group. Regular reviews are undertaken for portion sizes and food composition to ensure contemporary relevance. A training programme and a checking schedule are adhered to for quality assurance purposes, covering users and data. Eating context questions are integrated to record where and with whom the respondent is eating, allowing examination between these factors and the foods consumed.ConclusionsAn up-to-date quality-assured system for dietary assessment is crucial for nutritional surveillance and research, but needs to have the flexibility to be tailored to address specific research questions.

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Estimation of typical food portion sizes for children of different ages in Great Britain

British Journal Of Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s0007114507868516 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 99 (6) ◽

pp. 1344-1353 ◽

Cited By ~ 58

Author(s):

Wendy L. Wrieden ◽

Patricia J. Longbottom ◽

Ashley J. Adamson ◽

Simon A. Ogston ◽

Anne Payne ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dietary Assessment ◽

Age Groups ◽

Food Groups ◽

Linear Quadratic ◽

Portion Sizes ◽

Food Portion ◽

Different Ages ◽

Typical Food ◽

Unique Source ◽

The Uk

It is often the case in dietary assessment that it is not practicable to weigh individual intakes of foods eaten. The aim of the work described was to estimate typical food portion weights for children of different ages. Using the data available from the British National Diet and Nutrition Surveys of children aged 1½–4½ years (1992–1993) and young people aged 4–18 years (1997), descriptive statistics were obtained, and predicted weights were calculated by linear, quadratic and exponential regression for each age group. Following comparison of energy and nutrient intakes calculated from actual (from an earlier weighed intake study) and estimated portion weights, the final list of typical portion sizes was based on median portion weights for the 1–3- and 4–6-year age groups, and age-adjusted means using linear regression for the 7–10-, 11–14- and 15–18-year age groups. The number of foods recorded by fifty or more children was 133 for each of the younger age groups (1–3 and 4–6 years) and seventy-five for each of the older age groups. The food portion weights covered all food groups. All portion sizes increased with age with the exception of milk in tea or coffee. The present study draws on a unique source of weighed data on food portions of a large sample of children that is unlikely to be repeated and therefore provides the best possible estimates of children's food portion sizes in the UK.

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Frequently Consumed Foods and Energy Contributions among Food Secure and Insecure U.S. Children and Adolescents

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu12020304 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 304 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Heather A. Eicher-Miller ◽

Carol J. Boushey ◽

Regan L. Bailey ◽

Yoon Jung Yang

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Dietary Assessment ◽

Age Groups ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Nutritional Risk ◽

Food Groups ◽

Dietary Recommendations ◽

Chi Square ◽

Food Security Status

Food insecurity is associated with nutritional risk in children. This study identified and compared the most frequently consumed foods, beverages, and food groups and their contributions to energy intake among U.S. children and adolescents (6–11, 12–17 years) by food security status. Dietary intake from the day-1, 24-h dietary recall, and household child food security status were analyzed in the 2007–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (n = 8123). Foods and beverages were classified into food categories, ranked, and compared by weighted proportional frequency and energy contribution for food security groups by age. Significant differences between household child food security groups were determined using the Rao-Scott modified chi-square statistic. The weighted proportional frequency of beverages (including diet, sweetened, juice, coffee, and tea) and their energy was significantly higher among food insecure compared with food secure while the reverse was true for water frequency among 12–17 years. Beverage and mixed dish frequency were higher among food insecure compared with food secure 6–11 years while the reverse was true for frequency and energy from snacks. Frequency-differentiated intake patterns for beverages and snacks by food security across age groups may inform dietary recommendations, population-specific dietary assessment tools, interventions, and policy for food insecure children.

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Comparison of methods to estimate non-milk extrinsic sugars and their application to sugars in the diet of young adolescents

British Journal Of Nutrition ◽

10.1079/bjn20051448 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 94 (1) ◽

pp. 114-124 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Sarah A. M. Kelly ◽

Carolyn Summerbell ◽

Andrew J. Rugg-Gunn ◽

Ashley Adamson ◽

Emma Fletcher ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dietary Intake ◽

Critical Appraisal ◽

Human Nutrition ◽

Research Centre ◽

Food Groups ◽

Nutrition Research ◽

Human Nutrition Research ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Dietary Surveys ◽

Consistent Information

Consistent information on the non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES) content of foods and the NMES intake by the population is required in order to allow comparisons between dietary surveys. A critical appraisal of methods of NMES estimation was conducted to investigate whether the different published methods for estimating the NMES content of foods lead to significantly different values for the dietary intake of NMES by children and to consider the relative practicality of each method. NMES values of foods were calculated using three different published descriptions of methods of NMES estimation, and the values were compared within food groups. Dietary intake values for English children aged 11–12 years were calculated using each method and compared in terms of overall NMES intake and the contribution of different food groups to NMES intake. There was no significant difference in the dietary intake of NMES in children between the method used in the National Diet and Nutrition Surveys (NDNS) (81·9 g/d; 95 % CI 79·0, 84·7) and a method developed by the Human Nutrition Research Centre (84·3 g/d; 95 % CI 81·4, 87·2) at Newcastle University, UK, although the latter gave slightly higher values. An earlier method used by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries gave significantly higher values than the other two methods (102·5 g/d; 95 % CI 99·3, 105·6; P<0·05). The method used in the NDNS surveys and the method used by the Human Nutrition Research Centre at Newcastle University are both thorough and detailed methods that give consistent results. However, the method used in the NDNS surveys was more straightforward to apply in practice and is the best method for a single uniform approach to the estimation of NMES.

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Consumption of ‘extra’ foods (energy-dense, nutrient-poor) among children aged 16–24 months from western Sydney, Australia

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/phn2006970 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 1035-1044 ◽

Cited By ~ 65

Author(s):

Karen L Webb ◽

Marjaana Lahti-Koski ◽

Ingrid Rutishauser ◽

Debra J Hector ◽

Natalia Knezevic ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dietary Assessment ◽

Randomised Trial ◽

Saturated Fat ◽

Food Groups ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Food Records ◽

Dietary Assessment Methods ◽

Nutrient Density ◽

Portion Sizes ◽

Sydney Australia

AbstractObjectiveThis study evaluates the contribution of energy-dense, nutrient-poor ‘extra’ foods to the diets of 16–24-month-old children from western Sydney, Australia.DesignAn analysis of cross-sectional data collected on participants in the Childhood Asthma Prevention Study (CAPS), a randomised trial investigating the primary prevention of asthma from birth to 5 years. We collected 3-day weighed food records, calculated nutrient intakes, classified recorded foods into major food groups, and further classified foods as either ‘core’ or ‘extras’ according to theAustralian Guide to Healthy Eating.SettingPregnant women, whose unborn child was at risk of developing asthma because of a family history, were recruited from all six hospitals in western Sydney, Australia. Data for this study were collected in clinic visits and at participants’ homes at the 18-month assessment.ParticipantsFour hundred and twenty-nine children participating in the CAPS study; 80% of the total cohort.ResultsThe mean consumption of ‘extra’ foods was ∼150 g day− 1and contributed 25–30% of the total energy, fat, carbohydrate and sodium to the diets of the study children. ‘Extra’ foods also contributed around 20% of fibre, 10% of protein and zinc, and about 5% of calcium. Children in the highest quintile of ‘extra’ foods intake had a slightly higher but not significantly different intake of energy from those in the lowest quintile. However, significant differences were evident for the percentage of energy provided by carbohydrate and sugars (higher) and protein and saturated fat (lower). The intake of most micronutrients was also significantly lower among children in the highest quintile of consumption. The intake of ‘extra’ foods was inversely associated with the intake of core foods.ConclusionsThe high percentage of energy contributed by ‘extra’ foods and their negative association with nutrient density emphasise the need for dietary guidance for parents of children aged 1–2 years. These preliminary data on commonly consumed ‘extra’ foods and portion sizes may inform age-specific dietary assessment methods.

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Do Norwegians with diabetes have a healthier diet than the general population?

Norsk Epidemiologi ◽

10.5324/nje.v23i1.1604 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Anne-Marie Aas ◽

Lars Johansson ◽

Kirsti Bjerkan ◽

Nina Lorentsen ◽

Ingrid Løvold Mostad

Keyword(s):

General Population ◽

Dietary Habits ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

Dietary Assessment ◽

Meat Products ◽

Control Group ◽

Published Data ◽

Food Groups ◽

Dietary Recommendations ◽

Comparison Results

Objective: Review current knowledge about dietary habits among people with diabetes in Norway compared with the general population and nutrient- and food-based dietary recommendations. Method: Baseline dietary data from four intervention studies in subjects with type 2 diabetes, were merged (n=92) and compared with data extracted from a nationwide dietary survey, NORKOST, where participants with diabetes (n=115) were compared with a gender and age matched control group (n=575). A validated food frequency questionnaire was used for dietary assessment. An overview of previously published data from two studies among young people with type 1 diabetes was included for comparison. Results: Subjects with diabetes had an intake of carbohydrates in the lower recommended range and lower than the controls, which was reflected in a lower intake of added sugar, sweets, potatoes, sugar-sweetened beverages, and fruit juices. Subjects with diabetes had a fiber intake which was similar or higher than controls, but below the recommended intake. They reported a higher proportion of energy from protein and fat than controls, reflecting the higher intake of meat, fish, edible fats, and high-fat meat products. There was a higher intake of vegetables, fruits and whole grain among subjects with diabetes compared with controls, but also a higher intake of red meat. Conclusion: Compared with the recommendations, people with diabetes had a low intake of carbohydrates and a high intake of protein and fat, but they made more healthy choices regarding intake of selected food groups compared with the control groups.

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A Dietary Assessment App for Hospitalized Patients at Nutritional Risk: Development and Evaluation of the MyFood App (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.9953 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Mari Mohn Paulsen ◽

Martina Lovise Lindhart Hagen ◽

Marte Hesvik Frøyen ◽

Rikke Julie Foss-Pedersen ◽

Dagfinn Bergsager ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Assessment Tool ◽

Dietary Assessment ◽

Hospital Setting ◽

Reference Method ◽

Hospitalized Patients ◽

Assessment System ◽

University Hospital ◽

Nutritional Risk ◽

Food Groups ◽

Food And Beverage

BACKGROUND Disease-related malnutrition is a common challenge among hospitalized patients. There seems to be a lack of an effective system to follow-up nutritional monitoring and treatment of patients at nutritional risk after risk assessment. We identify a need for a more standardized system to prevent and treat disease-related malnutrition. OBJECTIVE We aimed to develop a dietary assessment app for tablets for use in a hospital setting and to evaluate the app’s ability to measure individual intake of energy, protein, liquid, and food and beverage items among hospitalized patients for two days. We also aimed to measure patients’ experiences using the app. METHODS We have developed the MyFood app, which consists of three modules: 1) collection of information about the patient, 2) dietary assessment function, and 3) evaluation of recorded intake compared to individual needs. We used observations from digital photography of the meals, combined with partial weighing of the meal components, as a reference method to evaluate the app’s dietary assessment system for two days. Differences in the intake estimations of energy, protein, liquid, and food and beverage items between MyFood and the photograph method were analyzed on both group and individual level. RESULTS Thirty-two patients hospitalized at Oslo University Hospital were included in the study. The data collection period ran from March to May 2017. About half of the patients had ≥90% agreement between MyFood and the photograph method for energy, protein, and liquid intake on both recording days. Dinner was the meal with the lowest percent agreement between methods. MyFood overestimated patients’ intake of bread and cereals and underestimated fruit consumption. Agreement between methods increased from day 1 to day 2 for bread and cereals, spreads, egg, yogurt, soup, hot dishes, and desserts. Ninety percent of participants reported that MyFood was easy to use, and 97% found the app easy to navigate. CONCLUSIONS We developed the MyFood app as a tool to monitor dietary intake among hospitalized patients at nutritional risk. The recorded intake of energy, protein, and liquid using MyFood showed good agreement with the photograph method for the majority of participants. The app’s ability to estimate intake within food groups was good, except for bread and cereals which were overestimated and fruits which were underestimated. The app was well accepted among study participants and has the potential to be a dietary assessment tool for use among patients in clinical practice.

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Indices for the assessment of nutritional quality of meals: a systematic review

British Journal Of Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s0007114516000994 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 115 (11) ◽

pp. 2017-2024 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

B. M. Gorgulho ◽

G. K. Pot ◽

F. M. Sarti ◽

D. M. Marchioni

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Nutritional Quality ◽

Dietary Assessment ◽

Assessment Method ◽

Population Characteristics ◽

Food Groups ◽

Quality Indices ◽

Dietary Recommendations ◽

Meal Quality

AbstractThis systematic review aimed to synthesise information on indices developed to evaluate nutritional quality of meals. A strategy for systematic search of the literature was developed using keywords related to assessment of meal quality. Databases searched included ScienceDirect, PubMed, Lilacs, SciELO, Scopus, Cochrane, Embase and Google Scholar. The literature search resulted in seven different meal quality indices. Each article was analysed in order to identify the following items: authors, country, year, study design, population characteristics, type of meal evaluated, dietary assessment method, characteristics evaluated (nutrients or food items), score range, index components, nutritional references, correlations performed, validation and relationship with an outcome (if existing). Two studies developed instruments to assess the quality of breakfast, three analysed lunch, one evaluated dinner and one was applied to all types of meals and snacks. All meal quality indices reviewed were based on the evaluation of presence or absence of food groups and relative contributions of nutrients, according to food-based guidelines or nutrient references, adapting the daily dietary recommendations to one specific meal. Most of the indices included three items as components for meal quality assessment: (I) total fat or some specific type of fat, (II) fruits and vegetables and (III) cereals or whole grains. This systematic review indicates aspects that need further research, particularly the numerous approaches to assessing meals considering different foods and nutrients, and the need for validation studies of meal indices.

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Cultural Relevance of a Fruit and Vegetable Food Frequency Questionnaire

Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research ◽

10.3148/66.4.2005.231 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 66 (4) ◽

pp. 231-236 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Judy Paisley ◽

Marlene Greenberg ◽

Jess Haines

Keyword(s):

Food Frequency Questionnaire ◽

Dietary Assessment ◽

Cultural Relevance ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Comparative Approach ◽

Fruit And Vegetable ◽

Food Frequency ◽

Research And Practice ◽

Vegetable Food ◽

Nutrition Research

Purpose: Canada’s multicultural population poses challenges for culturally competent nutrition research and practice. In this qualitative study, the cultural relevance of a widely used semiquantitative fruit and vegetable food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was examined among convenience samples of adults from Toronto’s Cantonese-, Mandarin-, Portuguese-, and Vietnamesespeaking communities. Methods: Eighty-nine participants were recruited through community-based organizations, programs, and advertisements to participate in semi-structured interviews moderated in their native language. Data from the interviews were translated into English and transcribed for analysis using the constant comparative approach. Results: Four main themes emerged from the analysis: the cultural relevance of the foods listed on the FFQ, words with multiple meanings, the need for culturally appropriate portionsize prompts, and the telephone survey as a Western concept. Conclusions: This research highlights the importance of investing resources to develop culturally relevant dietary assessment tools that ensure dietary assessment accuracy and, more important, reduce ethnocentric biases in food and nutrition research and practice. The transferability of findings must be established through further research.

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Impact of Adopting Improved Seeds on Access to Broader Food Groups Among Small-Scale Sorghum Producers in Tanzania

SAGE Open ◽

10.1177/2158244020979992 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 215824402097999

Author(s):

Aloyce R. Kaliba ◽

Anne G. Gongwe ◽

Kizito Mazvimavi ◽

Ashagre Yigletu

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Dietary Diversity ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Inverse Probability Weighting ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

Small Scale ◽

Probability Weighting ◽

Food Groups ◽

Inverse Probability ◽

Double Robust

In this study, we use double-robust estimators (i.e., inverse probability weighting and inverse probability weighting with regression adjustment) to quantify the effect of adopting climate-adaptive improved sorghum varieties on household and women dietary diversity scores in Tanzania. The two indicators, respectively, measure access to broader food groups and micronutrient and macronutrient availability among children and women of reproductive age. The selection of sample households was through a multistage sampling technique, and the population was all households in the sorghum-producing regions of Central, Northern, and Northwestern Tanzania. Before data collection, enumerators took part in a 1-week training workshop and later collected data from 822 respondents using a structured questionnaire. The main results from the study show that the adoption of improved sorghum seeds has a positive effect on both household and women dietary diversity scores. Access to quality food groups improves nutritional status, food security adequacy, and general welfare of small-scale farmers in developing countries. Agricultural projects that enhance access to improved seeds are, therefore, likely to generate a positive and sustainable effect on food security and poverty alleviation in sorghum-producing regions of Tanzania.

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Validation of an interviewer-administered seven-day semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire for the dietary assessment of preschool children in rural Bangladesh

Journal of Nutritional Science ◽

10.1017/jns.2021.19 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

Author(s):

Sabuktagin Rahman ◽

Patricia Lee ◽

Santhia Ireen ◽

Moudud ur-Rahman Khan ◽

Faruk Ahmed

Keyword(s):

Food Frequency Questionnaire ◽

Statistical Tests ◽

Dietary Assessment ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Preschool Age ◽

Food Groups ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Food Frequency ◽

Preschool Age Children ◽

Absolute Agreement

Abstract A validation study of an interviewer-administered, seven-day semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (7-d SQFFQ) was conducted in Bangladeshi rural preschool age children. Using a cross-sectional study design, 105 children from 103 households were randomly selected. For the SQFFQ, a list of commonly consumed foods was adapted from the Bangladesh national micronutrient survey 2011–12. The data on the actual number of times and the amount of the children's consumption of the foods in the preceding 1 week were collected by interviewing the mothers. The intake was compared with two non-consecutive days 24-h dietary recalls conducted within 2 weeks after the SQFFQ. Validity was assessed by the standard statistical tests. After adjusting for the energy intake and de-attenuation for within-subject variation, the food groups (cereals, animal source foods, milk and the processed foods) had ‘good’ correlations between the methods (rho 0⋅65–0⋅93; P < 0⋅001). Similarly, the macronutrients (carbohydrate, protein and fats) had ‘good’ correlations (rho 0⋅50–0⋅75; P < 0⋅001) and the key micronutrients (iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin A, etc.) demonstrated ‘good’ correlations (rho 0⋅46–0⋅85; P < 0⋅001). The variation in classifying the two extreme quintiles by the SQFFQ and the 24-h recalls was <10 %. The results from Lin's concordance coefficients showed a ‘moderate’ to ‘excellent’ absolute agreement between the two methods for food groups, and nutrients (0⋅21–0⋅90; P < 0⋅001). This interviewer-administered, 7-d SQFFQ with an open-ended intake frequency demonstrated adequate validity to assess the dietary intake for most nutrients and suitable for dietary assessments of young children in Bangladesh.

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