EVALUATION OF THE DIETARY HISTORY METHOD USED IN THE SENECA STUDY

Objective: To evaluate a modified dietary history method applied in el derly people aged 74-79 y. Setting and subjects: A total of 387 men an d 420 women from seven European towns participated in an observational study. Methods: Dietary intake was assessed with a modified dietary h istory and compared with a 3-day estimated record. Results: The modifi ed dietary history provided consistently higher intakes of energy and nutrients than the estimated record. For most nutrients this differenc e was between 10% and 20%. However, in some towns differences were muc h larger. Physical activity ratios calculated as reported energy intak e divided by estimated basal metabolic rate (BMR) showed values less t han 1.5 for data obtained with the estimated record, suggesting underr eporting of energy intake. Pearson correlation coefficients between es timates by the two methods of the intakes of energy and almost all nut rients ranged from approximately 0.5 to 0.75.Conclusion: The size of t he overall correlation coefficients indicates an acceptable agreement between the dietary history and record method in ranking individuals a ccording to their intakes. For two towns, this agreement was not that good. Results indicate that the estimated record might not be a good r eference method for older adults.