Assessment of nutritional intake using dietary records with estimated weights

Abstract

We report here three small studies designed to investigate aspects of the use of unweighed dietary records based on detailed food descriptions with portion sizes estimated using household measures and standardised photographs. Firstly, a study was carried out to compare nutritional intake calculated from data collected by a 7‐d weighed record with nutritional intake calculated from a 7‐d estimated record completed by the same individual. Secondly, to measure the repeatability of a 7‐d estimated record, two estimated records made eight weeks apart have been compared. Thirdly, to investigate the effect of collecting data over a smaller number of days, a comparison was made between the analysis of a 7‐d estimated record and the analysis of data from just four days (two weekdays and the weekend) of the record.