Three-day Food Record Research Articles

EXERCISE, NUTRITION HABITS AND EATING ATTITUDES OF COLLEGE STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN A REQUIRED PHYSICAL FITNESS COURSE

The purpose of this study was to provide preliminary descriptive data on the exercise, nutrition habits and eating attitudes of female and male college students who were participating in a required physical fitness course. Three hundred and thirty five (194 female and 141 male) students completed a three-day food record, a questionnaire on their exercise habits, the eating attitudes test inventory (EAT), body shape questionnaire (BSQ), and body size drawings. Participants were placed into one of 5 exercise groups based on their reported exercise behavioral patterns (EBP): (1) Moderate (exercise (EX) within ACSM cardiorespiratory fitness (CF) guidelines; n = 38 males, 90 females); (2) Moderate Maladaptive (EX within guidelines, EX despite sickness or injury (ME); n = 26 males, 12 females); (3) Excessive/Maladaptive (EE/ME) (same as ME criteria as well as consistently exceeded ACSM CF guidelines; n = 10 males, 15 females); (4) Excessive (n = 0 males, 5 females) and (5) Sedentary (n = 63 males, 72 females). T-tests (p < 0.05) indicated gender differences for the EAT. Females scored higher (Mean ± SE) on the EAT Total (9.99 ± 3.32), EAT diet (6.76 ± 0.19) and EAT bul (1.78 ± 0.13) subscales compared with the males on the EAT total (4.74 ± 0.19), EAT diet (2.54 ± 0.16) and EATBUL (0.42 ± 0.09). ANOVA results indicated that excessive maladaptive exercisers (n = 25) scored higher on the EAT total (12.67 ± 0.67) compared with the moderate (n = 38, 8.14 ± 0.26)) and sedentary (n = 135, 6.44 ± 0.25) participants. T-test results further indicated higher (p < 0.05) total BSQ scores for EE/ME compared with both the moderate and sedentary participants. Correlation coefficients (p < 0.05) were computed among the EAT total, EAT subscales and nutrition data. Higher scores on the EAT total were significantly correlated with lower protein (r = −0.16), carbohydrate (r = −0.16) and fat intake (r = −0.30). Similarly, individuals who scored higher on the EAT diet and EAT bul subscales reported lower total, protein and fat intake. In conclusion problematic exercise behavioral patterns were associated with increases in maladaptive eating behaviors and heightened body shape distress.

Move of adults with mental retardation from institutions to community-based living: changes in the oral microbiological flora.

In the Western world, the policy of deinstitutionalization and integration of individuals with mental retardation is generally accepted. We tested the hypothesis that de-institutionalization may lead to changes of habits with a potential to influence oral health. When 57 adults with mental retardation moved from an institution to community-based living, their oral hygiene habits, gingival bleeding, and a three-day food record were registered one month before and 9 and 21 months after the move. Mutans streptococci and lactobacilli in saliva, P. intermedia/P. nigrescens, P. gingivalis, and A. actinomycetemcomitans in supragingival plaque, and C. albicans on mucous membranes were analyzed. After 21 months of community-based living, fewer persons showed high classes of mutans streptococci, growth of P. intermedia/P. nigrescens, and high frequency of sucrose intake, and more subjects showed growth of C. albicans. In a short perspective, the indicators of oral diseases suggest an unchanged or lower risk of oral diseases after the de-institutionalization of individuals with moderate or severe mental retardation.

Nutritional variables related to gingival health in adolescent girls

In order to study the nutritional variables associated with gingival health, a case-control study was designed to control strong variables whose effect on gingival status may obscure the potential effect of weaker ones, such as nutrition. Two groups of 27 gingivitis-affected and -unaffected female adolescents were selected. All were aged 17-19 years, with mean age of the two groups statistically not different. All were non-smokers, all reported daily toothbrushing frequency of twice/day or more, and none had clinical signs of hyponutrition. Mean DMFT of the two groups was statistically not different. The effect of nutritional variables, obtained by a three-day food record and by assessing the nutritional status of the girls, on presence/absence of gingivitis was evaluated by a variety of stepwise logistic regression analyses. Age (positive correlation), riboflavin, calcium and frequency of fibre intake (negative correlations) significantly explained the risk for gingivitis. Strong intercorrelation between riboflavin and calcium was also found, due to the high quantity of milk consumed by the girls, since this food provided the main source of riboflavin and calcium. The data suggest that some dietary measures may be useful for the maintenance of healthy gingival status.

Dietary fiber, Hispanics, and breast cancer risk?

The cancer rates of immigrant populations in the United States must be taken into account when looking at the importance of diet and culture as it relates to cancer prevention. Unfortunately, some nutrition studies targeted toward nontraditional white populations have not adequately confronted the issue of cultural meaning in efforts to gather dietary data accurate enough to support nutritional analyses, identify marginal diets, or relate risk to dietary patterns. The study presented here resolves many of the culturally specific issues utilizing awareness, attention, and judicious combination of culturally sensitive qualitative and quantitative research techniques. The importance of such a study in an Hispanic population is based on the fact that the age-adjusted rate of breast cancer in countries such as Mexico is among the lowest in the world. In addition, although one of the fastest-growing minority groups in the United States, Hispanic women living in this country have been shown to have the lowest incidence of the mortality rates from this disease across most geographic regions of the United States. Therefore, one might speculate that dietary factors, which have been shown to play a role in breast cancer prevention, may account for this difference. It is well recognized that the traditional Hispanic diet is rich in protective nutrients such as dietary fiber. It is known that through complex mechanisms, dietary fiber works to reduce the amount of estrogens in the body. Research also indicates that it is the level of endogenous estrogen in the body that may influence the onset of breast cancer. In order to better understand how dietary factors may be associated with breast cancer in Hispanic women, it is important that one develop the proper tools to discern any potential differences. Therefore, we developed an approach to obtaining dietary fiber information from a small cohort of 22 Houston-area Hispanic women as a vanguard study for a larger breast cancer prevention trial. Two separate dietary assessment instruments were utilized, a three-day food record and the Southwest Food Frequency Questionnaire. The mean intake of dietary fiber was 16 g/day according to the food record and 21 g/day according to the SWFFQ. Fruits, vegetables, breads, cereals, and beans provided for most of the participants' dietary fiber intake. These results support evidence that the Hispanic population's dietary fiber intake is higher than that for other groups, and this may help explain the lower incidence of breast cancer among some Hispanic populations.

Alcohol beverage drinking, diet and body mass index in a cross-sectional survey.

The study was carried out to determine the associations of alcohol beverage drinking with macronutrients, antioxidants, and body mass index. Dietary subsample of the 1992 Finmonica cardiovascular risk factor survey in Finland; a cross-sectional study. 985 women and 863 men were drawn from the population register in the four monitoring areas. All subjects were 25-64 y of age. The mailed questionnaire included questions covering socioeconomic factors, physical activity, smoking, and alcohol consumption. The diet was assessed using a three-day food record. The dietary differences between abstainers and alcohol consumers were more significant than between consumers of different alcoholic beverages. Among drinkers, fat intake as a percentage of energy was higher and carbohydrate intake was lower than among abstainers. Those who preferred wine, however, had the highest vitamin C intake; female wine drinkers also had the highest carotenoid intake. With the exception of those who mainly preferred spirits, alcohol energy was not added to the diet but seemed to substitute food items both in men and women. Despite the similar total daily energy intakes, daily energy expenditure, and physical activity index, male drinkers were leaner than abstainers. In women, the proportion of underreporters of energy intake increased with increasing alcohol consumption, and the association between alcohol and body mass index was similar to that in men after the exclusion of underreporters. Alcohol consumers were leaner than abstainers, and wine drinkers in particular had more antioxidants in their diet.

Dietary patterns in Japanese migrants to southeastern Brazil and their descendants.

This paper describes the dietary patterns of people of Japanese ancestry living in São Paulo, Brazil. Two cross-sectional surveys using a food frequency questionnaire (in 1989 and 1995) and self-administered three-day food record (only in 1995) were carried out in randomly chosen first-generation (Japan-born) and second-generation (Brazil-born) Japanese living in the city of São Paulo (n = 166), aged 40-69 years at the time of the first survey (1989). Daily intake of rice, bread, milk, fruits and coffee, and infrequent consumption of pork, green tea, black tea, tsukemono (pickled vegetables), seaweed and mushrooms were reported. The mean (+/- standard deviation) daily proportions of energy from fat among Japan-born participants were 27.2 +/- 6.7% for men and 26.2 +/- 6.7% for women. The respective figures for Brazil-born Japanese were 30.1 +/- 7.4% and 29.5 +/- 6.4%. These values were quite close to recent estimates for the general Brazilian population in metropolitan areas (about 30%), but seem to be higher than available data from Japan (25.3%). Dietary changes in this migrant population are discussed with focus on nutrients currently implicated in the etiology of major chronic diseases.

Dietary records underestimate actual energy intake of postmenopausal women

The energy intakes from self-reported three-day dietary records were compared with the actual energy intakes for weight maintenance of postmenopausal women participating in metabolic studies. Seventy-three women aged (mean ± SD) 61 ± 8 (44–81) years, with a body mass index (BMI) of 25.8 ± 3.8 (19.9–36.8) kg/m2, participated in trace element nutrition studies lasting five to six months over a nine-year period. Before admission to the metabolic unit, volunteers were requested to complete a three-day food record with prior instructions and subsequent review by a Registered Dietitian. Volunteers consumed weighed metabolic diets composed of conventional foods with energy adjusted to maintain initial body weights within a 2% range. The amount of energy that maintained body weight the longest, and for a minimum of 45 days, was taken as the actual energy required for weight maintenance. The volunteers' mean reported energy intake was 1638 ± 453 kcal. The actual energy intake, which maintained body weights for periods of 121 ± 35 days, was 2052 ± 275 kcal. The reported intakes significantly underestimated the actual energy intakes by 414 ± 498 kcal (p<0.0001), with 58 women (80%) under-reporting and 15 women (20%) over-reporting. Reporting error was within 200 kcal for 17 (23%) and exceeded 200 kcal for 56 (77%) of the participants. On the average, self-reported food records underestimated actual energy intakes by 19%. Reporting error (reported-actual) was directly correlated with age (r= 0.26, p<0.03) and inversely correlated with body weight (r= −0.32, p<0.007) and BMI (r= −0.28, p<0.02). These correlations remained significant when the reporting error was expressed as a proportion of actual energy intake (r= 0.23, p<0.05 with age, r= −0.26, p<0.02 with body weight, r= −0.25, p<0.04 with BMI). The reported energy consumption of these volunteers was slightly higher than the reported energy consumption of 1522 kcal/day for women aged 51–64 years in the 1977 USDA Food Consumption Survey. The present results support other evidence (Am J Clin Nutr 54: 291, 1991) that self-reported food consumption substantially underestimates actual consumption and suggest that, in postmenopausal women, this underestimation is less with increasing age and greater with increasing body size.

Methods for Assessment of Dietary Lead Exposure of the Inner-City Population

AbstractAssessment of dietary lead exposure of individuals begins with the determination of food and beverage intake by the individuals, and concludes with an evaluation of the lead content of the foods and beverages consumed. Of several techniques available for assessment of dietary intake, the 24-hour food recall is recommended as the method of choice for assessing current dietary lead intakes in inner-city populations. The three-day food record can be used among cooperative and motivated subjects, while the dietary history method is available for assessing long-term intakes in the past. The unavailability of lead content values of a large number of foods will to a large extent restrict the use of these methods in large-scale dietary lead exposure studies. Until the time that such data becomes available, the most accurate estimates of lead intake can be provided by chemical analysis of duplicate samples of foods consumed, as is currently done. However, this method is feasible only for small samples.

Attendance at Health Promotion Programs: Baseline Predictors and Program Outcomes

As part of a family cardiovascular health promotion project, 111 Mexican-American and 95 Anglo-American families with fifth- or sixth-grade children were assigned to either a primary prevention program involving 18 sessions or to a control condition. This article evaluates predictors of attendance at the year long sequence of sessions in the intervention group. In addition it considers the relationship between attendance and program outcomes. Low baseline scores on physical activity and cardiovascular fitness measures were associated with higher attendance for both children and adults. High initial health knowledge and self-motivation were also associated with attendance. Multiple regression analysis showed that adult attendance was significantly predicted by a model including completion of a three-day food record, low exercise, higher socioeconomic status, family adaptability, and self-motivation. Attendance was correlated with greater knowledge gains and larger reductions in blood pressure. The results indicate that motivated families who are in greater need of conditioning attended more sessions in a health promotion program.

Can goal setting as a component of nutrition education effect behavior change among adolescents?

We developed a nutrition education behavior change strategy for high school health classes, and we implemented and evaluated the strategy with 159 adolescents in 12 classes in 6 schools. We used a pre-/postassessment, treatment/ control group experimental design with two treatment groups—one received only the behavior change strategy and one received the strategy plus a traditional knowledge-oriented component. Based on an individualized nutrient intake analysis of a three-day food record, each adolescent in a treatment group selected improvement of one nutrient as a goal. The dependent variable was change in intake of the goal nutrient, analyzed with separate statistical models for each of 6 nutrients. Independent variables in each model were treatment, school, gender, goal, nutrition attitude scores, and nutrition knowledge scores. Although treatment and school were not significant variables, goal was related (p < .01) to behavior change for each of the 6 nutrients. Adolescents who set a goal related to calcium, vitamin A, or vitamin C increased intake and those with a sodium-related goal decreased sodium intake. Gender was related to change for calcium, vitamin A, and folic acid, with males making significant improvements. Nutrition attitudes and knowledge generally were not related to dietary change. Knowledge scores increased significantly in both treatment groups.

Aggregation of Dietary Calories, Fats, and Sodium in Mexican-American and Anglo Families

There seems to be a consensus that family influences on dietary habits are important, but few studies have addressed this issue directly. To clarify inconsistent findings, we studied the aggregation of dietary fats, sodium, and calories in 95 Anglo and 111 Mexican-American families. Their diet was determined by 24-hour recall, a three-day food record, and a food frequency questionnaire, along with a measure of the urinary sodium-potassium ratio. There was evidence of moderate aggregation of all dietary variables in both ethnic groups. In Anglo families, spouse-spouse, but not sibling-sibling, correlations tended to be significant. The diets of the younger children, but not the older children, were related to their parents' diets. In Mexican-American families, both spouse-spouse and sibling-sibling correlations tended to be significant. The mothers' diets were more highly correlated with the children's diets than were the fathers'.

DIETARY MEASURES OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

The relationships between cardiovascular fitness, body fatness, and the number of calories required to maintain stable body weight over a baseline period of three weeks were studied in 21 healthy obese males aged 20-44 years who participated in a controlled feeding experiment at the Division of Epidemiology (formerly the Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene) of the School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, in August 1980-June 1981. statistically significant relationships were found between the number of calories actually consumed per kg of body weight (kcal/kg) and body fatness (r = -0.79, p = 0.001), and number of calories consumer per kg of body weight and physical work capacity (VO2 max) (r = 0.76, p = 0.001). Using body fatness quartiles, the caloric intake per kg of body weight and VO2 max decreased progressively as body fatness increased through its four quartiles. These relationships were also seen when reported caloric intake from a three-day food record was used; however, the magnitude was attenuated. On the other hand, caloric intake unadjusted for body weight, whether actual or reported, was unrelated to both body fatness and VO2 max. To determine whether these relationships hold true for less obese subjects, the authors have also analyzed and compared their results with the data from previously reported feeding experiments done at the University of Minnesota. Correlations between body fat indices and actual caloric intake were similar for both studies. Therefore, the authors conclude that in these relatively young, healthy, and sedentary males with a wide range of body fatness and body weight, the observed relationships between caloric intake adjusted for body weight, body fatness and VO2 max reflect habitual physical activity. These data confirm epidemiologic observations of an inverse relationship between caloric intake per kg of body weight and body fatness, and provide a rationale for using caloric intake adjusted for body weight as a measure of long-term habitual physical activity. Thus, these data bolster the interpretation that an inverse relationship between caloric intake per kg of body weight and mortality reflects a positive health effect of long-term physical activity. This index may be particularly useful in large population studies.

Measures of Food Intake Among Rural Elderly

In order to evsluate the nutrition status of the elderly-whether for research, clinical evaluation, or the development of community health programs-the assessment of food intake of both elderly individuals and populations is essential. The rural elderly are at risk of developing nutritional problems because of their limited economic resources, transportation, health services, and increased isolation. While the rural elderly represent the greatest segment of Americans over age 65, there is little information about their food intake and dietary problems. The purpose of this research was to conduct a pilot study which would identify the most reliable means of assessing food intake among a population of rural elderly citizens. The results of this investigation suggest that the three-day food record, and the diet history were more reliable than the 24-hour recall in measuring the food intake of 30 females and 17 males living in rural North Carolina.

Dietary vitamin C and uterine cervical dysplasia.

A case-control study of women with cervical abnormalities identified through Pap smears, was conducted in the Bronx, New York, to explore the relationship between nutritional intake and cervical dysplasia. Nutrient intake was estimated from computer analysis of three-day food records and 24-hour recall for 169 study participants (87 cases, 82 controls), including a subset of 49 pairs matched for age, race and parity. Mean vitamin C intake per day from three-day food record for controls was 107 mg, compared to 80 mg for cases (p less than 0.01). Analysis of matched pairs showed similar results; 29% of cases compared to 3% of controls in matched subset had vitamin C intake less than 50% of the recommended daily allowance, yielding a ten-fold increase in risk of cervical dysplasia as estimated by odds ratio (p less than 0.05). Younger age, greater frequency of sexual intercourse and younger age at first intercourse were associated with higher risk of cervical dysplasia. Multiple logistic analyses indicated that low vitamin C intake is an independent contributor to risk of severe cervical dysplasia when age and sexual activity variables are controlled. Approximately 35% of US women in their reproductive years have daily vitamin C intake below 30 mg, and 68% have vitamin C intake below 88 mg. If other studies confirm these findings, it may be important to explore a possible protective role of supplementary vitamin C for women at high risk of cervical cancer.