Dietary Assessment Essay

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Recommended: The link between diet and cancer

The role of dietary factors in the etiology of several cancers has been extensively investigated over the last few years including colorectal cancer (Bazensky I, Shoobridge-Moran C, Yoder LH, 2007). Cohort as well as case-control studies have been designed; they include a progressively larger number of subjects and are based on increasingly more detailed information (Manjinder S. Sandhu, Ian R. White, and Klim McPherson, 2001). However, considerations must be made when selecting appropriate dietary assessment methods for these studies. Accurate estimates of habitual dietary intake remain a challenge in the study of diet-disease relationships (Jackson et. Al, 2011). This is because dietary assessments could be affected by a number of factors such as motivation to complete assessments and reporting bias associated with unstructured eating patterns, concerns with body image and weight status (Livingstone MB et. al, 2009). Besides these, the study design, outcomes of interest , and available resources need to be taken into consideration when selecting an appropriate dietary assessment tool for a particular study (Jyh Eiin Wong et. al, 2012).

In epidemiological studies, Food-Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) is often chosen assessment method for estimating dietary intake and can provide valid and reliable estimates of usual dietary intake in a variety of populations (Navarro A, Osella AR, Guerra V, et al, 2001) where as the other possible and precise methods such as 24-hour recalls and food records do not reflect past diet or usual intake and are generally expensive (Lin L et.al, 2013).

Moreover, though the tool is more practical and frequently used dietary assessment for assessing individual diets in large cohorts (easy to administer...

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...dietary habits from one population to another, there is no universally accepted FFQ that can be used for all populations. It has been suggested that elucidation of diet–disease relationships requires dietary assessment methods which can adequately describe and quantify intakes, minimize systematic errors and provide reasonably precise estimates of variability between individuals and/or groups (Kaaks R, Riboli E, 1997; Carroll RJ e t.al 1997 and Lin L et.al, 2013). Therefore, it is vital that any FFQ must be shown to be reliable and valid for use in the population of interest and should also be designed to meet the aims of specific study populations and contain an up-to-date list of foods (Jyh Eiin Wong, et. al, 2012). Generally, validation correlations vary depending upon the nutrient, but typically range from 0.40 to 0.70 can be acceptable (Lin L et.al, 2013).

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