Who completes seven-day food records?

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Understanding participant characteristics in dietary studies is crucial for generalizability.
• Dietary assessment methods, like food records, rely on participant compliance.
• The Glostrup Population Studies aimed to gather long-term health data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the demographic and lifestyle factors of individuals who completed a 7-day food record.
• To compare respondents and non-respondents in a large population-based sample.

Main Methods:

• An age- and sex-stratified random sample of 4807 individuals born in 1922, 1932, 1942, and 1952 were invited.
• Participants completed a 7-day food record, with response rates analyzed by age, sex, marital status, education, smoking, and alcohol consumption.
• Food consumption patterns were compared between respondents and non-respondents using a food frequency questionnaire.

Main Results:

• A 49.2% response rate was achieved for the 7-day food record.
• Higher response rates were observed in older age groups, among women, and in individuals who had never smoked or had quit smoking.
• Male respondents consumed less beer weekly; no significant dietary differences were found between respondents and non-respondents.

Conclusions:

• Participant characteristics, including age, sex, and smoking status, influence response rates in dietary surveys.
• While certain groups were more likely to participate, the overall dietary intake did not significantly differ between those who provided records and those who did not.
• Findings highlight the importance of considering response bias in population-based dietary research.