A RAPID METHOD FOR ESTIMATING TOTAL DIETA RY FIBER CONTENT

Dietary fibre is now considered part of a healthful diet. This article describes the approach that was used to elaborate a fibre exchange sy stem which could serve as a tool for quickly calculating the fibre con tent of diets. The system is based on a statistical model obtained fro m a stepwise multiple linear regression derived from the analysis of d ietary data collected on 22 subjects who completed a total of nearly 2 00 one-day food records over all. The model makes very good prediction of the fibre intake of the subjects, which varies from 14 to 49 g per day when evaluated by using a computerized nutrient calculation syste m with no missing data for fibre. The fibre exchange system could prov e a useful tool for quickly estimating the fibre content of diets, for planning and teaching as well as evaluating compliance with fibre-ric h diets.