COMPARISON OF DIETARY-INTAKE METHODS WITH YOUNG-CHILDREN

To select a valid method for obtaining dietary intake of preschool chi ldren, food intake of 17 children (8 in daycare programs and 9 in home care) was measured for three clays. Each day, home caregivers and day care staff were asked to recall what the child had eaten during the pr evious 24 hours. After the third day, the Willett Food Frequency Quest ionnaire was administered to assess intake during the preceding seven days, which included the three days of measured foods. There were no s ignificant differences between means from measured and recalled intake . Although the children's gender and cam status (daycare versus home c are) made no difference in measured intake, there were significant dif ferences in recalled intake for energy and percent of calories from sa turated fat. In this study the questionnaire did not provide an accura te assessment of measured intake and could not replace the dietary rec all.