Evaluation of dietary assessment instruments in adolescents : Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care (original) (raw)
Assessment of nutritional status and analytical methods
aChanning Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and bDepartment of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Correspondence to Helaine Rockett, MS RD, Channing Laboratories, 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA Tel: +1 617 525 4207; fax: +1 617 525 2008; e-mail: [email protected]
This work was supported in part by grant DK46834
Abbreviations
CFC: CATCH Food Checklist
FFQ: food-frequency questionnaire
FIRSSt: Food Intake Recording Software System
GUTS: Growing Up Today Study
WFR: weighted food record
YAQ: Youth Adolescent Questionnaire
Abstract
Purpose of review
The obesity epidemic, the increasing occurrence of adult diseases in childhood, and the growing awareness of a connection between adult diseases and the diet of children and adolescents have led to increased interest in what our youth are eating. Designing an instrument to evaluate adolescents' eating habits requires addressing not only the typical requirements for a diet assessment tool but also the unique concerns of the adolescent population. We reviewed current dietary instruments for adolescents.
Recent findings
New nutrient assessment methods fall into one of two groups: instruments limited to a specific nutrient/food or those designed for a specific population. The new tools range from Food Intake Recording Software System, a computer program to assist individuals under 10 years of age in reporting their diets, to short food-frequency questionnaires specifically designed to assess fruits and vegetables or fat. Another new instrument uses picture cards to evaluate the entire diet of low-income, overweight African-Americans. The Youth Adolescent Questionnaire, although not a new tool, has been evaluated in new populations (multi-ethnic, multi-income, and multi-education) and with doubly labeled water.
Summary
A limited number of dietary assessment instruments that are specifically designed for adolescents have been found to be reproducible and validated. There is a demand for a short, easily administered, inexpensive, accurate instrument that can be used in a broad range of adolescent subpopulations. Future tools will need to meet these criteria and evaluate the ‘new’ nutrients, foods, and other factors that lead our youth to eat the foods they do.
© 2003 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.