The USDA Automated Multiple-Pass Method accurately estimates group total energy and nutrient intake.

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Public Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• The national obesity epidemic necessitates accurate large-scale dietary assessment methods.
• Existing methods like food-frequency questionnaires (FFQs) may not provide precise energy intake data.
• The Automated Multiple-Pass Method (AMPM) is a computerized dietary recall tool developed for national surveys.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the performance of the AMPM against criterion measures for total energy expenditure (TEE) and nutrient intake.
• To compare the accuracy of AMPM with two common epidemiological dietary assessment tools: the Block food-frequency questionnaire (Block) and the National Cancer Institute's Diet History Questionnaire (DHQ).

Main Methods:

• A free-living study involving 20 normal-weight, premenopausal women.
• Utilized doubly labeled water (DLW) for criterion measurement of total energy expenditure (TEE).
• Employed 14-day estimated food records (FR) as a criterion for absolute nutrient intake, alongside two AMPM recalls and completion of the Block and DHQ.

Main Results:

• AMPM and FR total energy intake (TEI) did not significantly differ from DLW TEE.
• The Block and DHQ questionnaires significantly underestimated TEI by approximately 28% compared to DLW TEE.
• AMPM demonstrated a stronger linear correlation with DLW TEE (r = 0.53) than the Block (r = 0.25) and DHQ (r = 0.15).
• AMPM closely approximated most mean absolute nutrient intakes from FR, while questionnaires underestimated them.

Conclusions:

• The AMPM provides valid group-level measures of total energy and nutrient intake in highly motivated premenopausal women.
• Epidemiological tools like the Block FFQ and DHQ tend to underestimate energy intake in this population.
• AMPM shows greater accuracy for assessing energy intake compared to the evaluated FFQs, supporting its use in large-scale dietary assessments.