Methodology for reconstruction of historical food consumption estimates

Abstract

This report was written to provide the food consumption methodology to be used in the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HDER) Project beyond Phase I (which ended in July 1990). In Phase I (Callaway 1992), baseline food consumption estimates (grams per day) for 10 primary food types in the original 10-county study region were derived from the 1977--1978 National Food Consumption Survey (USDA 1983). The baseline estimates were multiplied by the 1945:1977 ratios to produce consumption estimates for 1945. This ratio backcasting method used in Phase I to project consumption estimates from 1977 back to 1945 will be refined using additional USDA data to improve and document the acceptability of the ratios for deriving backcast consumption estimates. The number of food types and population groups will be expanded to provide more disaggregated estimates of food consumption. Food consumption estimates will be developed for 1945, 1951, and 1957. A database of individual diets will be created from which daily diets will be randomly selected for use in the dose model to calculate doses for reference individuals.