Assessment of an individual’s energy and nutrient intake plays a very important role in evaluating the state of nutrition. Taking food is considered a form of “behavior,” which can sometimes be affected by biological and environmental events. To get results, the method must be precise and accurate. Food consumption survey methods can be traced to two main categories: methods by recollection (24h recall, consumption frequency questionnaire, dietary history) and methods by registration (recording, weighed or estimated food intake). Depending on the objective, the most suitable method is chosen.
- Methods by recall: 24h recall
Yes uses to record the average consumption of a group of people but is not suitable for characterizing the individual diet.
- Methods by recollection: attendance questionnaire
Yes It is a questionnaire with a predetermined number of questions and foods to to which the consumption refers. Within it is reported the frequency with which different foods are consumed over a period of time.
- Methods by recollection: dietary history
The dietary history is based on the survey of habitual consumption and refers to usually to the last month, the last six months or the last year. The method original was proposed by Burke and consists of three types of surveys distincts. This is an interview on past nutrition that estimates intake food in detail with food characteristics and consumption habitual.
- Methods for recording: food diary
When the ultimate goal is to assess the individual’s current consumption, the method to be used is consumption recording, with food being weighed. With the food diary, everything consumed throughout the day is recorded.
Source: Handbook of Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition by Franco Contaldo et al.
