Abstract
Imprecise dietary reports are often cited as one reason for weak or non-existent relations between diet and disease in epidemiological studies. Studies in applied cognitive psychology have contributed to the improved utility of general survey questionnaires. However, only a few studies have examined cognitive processes in diet recall, and the designs of dietary assessment instruments that may enhance recall of habitual diet. This paper briefly summarises some research on cognition in diet recall, and gives some suggestions for future research.
Highlights
Epidemiological studies depend on the ability of individuals to give clear reports of various life circumstances [1,2], and sometimes of events from many years back [3,4,5]
Dietary assessment in epidemiological studies is based on the assumption that individuals have clear memories of their usual dietary habits, and that these memories can readily be recalled and quantified [6]
Food frequency questionnaires and diet history methods are methods commonly used in studies of diet and disease
Summary
Epidemiological studies depend on the ability of individuals to give clear reports of various life circumstances [1,2], and sometimes of events from many years back [3,4,5]. A series of experiments were designed to investigate the nature of the dietary information that is available in the memory of respondents, the ability of respondents to make food frequency judgements, the sensitivity of frequency judgements to retrieval cues, and the ability to judge portion-sizes in diet recall [24]. These experiments indicated that individuals largely appeared to rely on generic knowledge about their habitual diet when asked to recall dietary memories from longer periods. Even if individuals do not have true "usual" portion-sizes for many foods, it may still be worthwhile to ask for portionsize information, if this will contribute to a clearer separation of individuals into different intake categories [49]
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