Assessing dietary intake in preschool children: The Healthy Start Project - New York

Healthy Start is a three year research project designed to evaluate the eff ectiveness of a cardiovascular risk reduction program in minority and low-i ncome children and their parents. Baseline 24-hour recall data was collecte d on 439 three to five year-old children during the Pall of 1995. The metho dology used was a combined approach: observation of the children during mea ltime to determine quantities of food eaten at school coupled with completi on of a food record by the parent/guardian of the child for foods eaten awa y from school on the same day as the observation. The food record was revie wed by phone with the parent/guardian for accuracy and completeness. In the absence of a completed food record, the parent was asked to recall the chi ld's intake on the day in question. School meal plus home meal intake was m erged for each child to create the 24-hour intake. The collection method wa s done according to specific criteria. The mean caloric intake was 1449 kca l, with 15% of energy from protein, 54% from carbohydrate, 31% from fat and 12% from saturated fat. This combined approach methodology allows 24-hour intakes to be collected on young children in the school setting as well as the home environment. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.