Pediatric Nutrition in Practice

4 Annexes

Key Words

Assessment of groups of children · Diet records ·

24-hour recall · Food frequency questionnaire ·

Misreporting of intake · Nutrient analysis ·

Interpretation

Key Messages

• Assessment of nutrient intake is only valid at a
  group level and is suitable for research projects


• The choice of assessment methods depends on the
  question to be addressed, the age of the subjects
  and the resources available


• It is essential to plan the work carefully in advance
  and obtain expert advice if meaningful results are
  to be achieved


• Methods for analysis of nutrients and the assess-
  ment of misreporting of intake should be deter-
  mined in advance © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel

Introduction

This Annexe will deal with methods to use for the
dietary assessment of groups of children usually
as part of a research project [1]. It is important
from the outset to understand the aim of the re-
search as this will have a bearing on the method
to use for the assessment. There will also be a need
to consider the amount of time available in face-

to-face or other contact with the subject, the type

and number of staff required for the dietary as-

sessment, as well as the type and number of staff

needed to handle the data and interpret it. A cal-

culation to decide how many subjects need to be

studied to adequately answer the research ques-

tion is also necessary. All these considerations

should be built into any plan for the research and

particularly included in the plans to raise funds,

which need to be adequate to achieve the research

goals.

A further consideration when dealing with

children is their ability to supply reliable dietary

data themselves. Children below the age of 8–10

years do not usually have the cognitive skills nec-

essary to recall or record foods eaten accurately

enough for assessment [2]. Therefore, it will be

necessary to involve parents or caregivers in sup-

plying this information; however, they may not

be totally reliable as well, since they are not neces-

sarily with the child on all eating occasions, they

may not be fully motivated to cooperate with a

resea rch projec t, t hey may have d i f f icu lt y f i nd i ng

time to cooperate, and so on [2]. Older children

may be a good source of information but do not

necessarily understand the full details of the

foods they eat; thus, it is usually necessary to ob-

tain an expansion of child-supplied information

from parents/caregivers.

Koletzko B, et al. (eds): Pediatric Nutrition in Practice. World Rev Nutr Diet. Basel, Karger, 2015, vol 113, pp 322–325
DOI: 10.1159/000367864

4.6 Dietary Assessment in Children

Pauline Emmett