ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on dietary assessment tools that are intended for dietary research and have published studies indicating the tool compared favorably to a recognized standard. It features tools used for two dietary assessment methods: Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs) and 24-hour dietary recalls (24HRs). FFQs are designed for assessing usual intake over a reference period and are useful for large-scale epidemiologic studies due to the relatively low cost of administration and analysis. FFQs have been shown to contain substantial measurement error due to incomplete food lists, difficulties in estimating usual portion size over the reference period, and considerable respondent error when completing hard copy forms. Computer-assisted technology has ameliorated respondent error to some degree by automating skip patterns, forcing respondents to answer all questions, and using graphical images to reduce literacy issues. The chapter includes a brief discussion of the use of 24HRs to collect food record (FR) data.
