[Reliability of a long-term recall method of dietary survey]

A total of 493 male inpatients were subjects in a study of the dietary intake (food frequency) when they were elementary school age and at the time of marriage by a long-term recall method. In order to examine the reliability of the recalled dietary data, 21 food items were compared with results of the National Nutrition Survey for the same time period. Food intake by the long-term recall method, especially meats, egg, milk and rice correlated well with the results of the National Nutrition Survey. From these results it appears that long-term recall of dietary intake frequency data averages are similar to the results of the National Survey data. Therefore the long-term recall method reflects the dietary practices of that era, and keeping in mind its limitations, its use as a means of revealing the dietary practices of a population is suggested.