Estimating bias in reported energy intake among obese subjects

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-1996

Abstract

Underreporting of energy intake is a serious methodological problem undermining the ability to assess diet-disease relationships in clinical and epidemiotogic studies. We sought to estimate the magnitude of random error and systematic bias in reported energy intake in a community-based sample of 155 black females, BMI = 32 5±7,2 (mean±sd), and 72 black males, BMI = 30.3±6.1 Estimated minimum energy requirement (ER = 1.5 X basal metabolic rate) minus energy intake, assessed by 24-hour recall (RC) and food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), was used to define the error in reported intake by BMI fertiles. Among males, mean (±sd) reported energy intake was 2630±1086 kcal/d by RC and 2931±1918 kcal/d by FFQ and among women, 17851725 and 2088±1187 kcal/d, respectively. Mean ER was 2877±484 and 2358±314 kcal/d among men and women, respectively. Among males, mean error in intake was -9% by RC and +2% by FFQ. Mean error among females, on the other hand, was -27% and -15% by RC and FFQ, respectively. In addition, the degree of error varied across BMI. Among females, the mean (±sd) error in reported intake was -322±637, -5621763 and -831 ±711 kcal/d for BMI fertiles with means of 25.0, 31.8 and 40.3, respectively (p<0 0001) This trend was observed, to a lesser degree, for FFQ data among females and RC data among males. In contrast, the error in reported energy intake by FFQ among men was not associated with BMI. Our findings indicate that the mean error in reported energy intake by RC and FFQ is less among men than women, and that the error increases linearly with BMI among women.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

FASEB Journal

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