Validity of the dietary history method in elderly subjects. Euronut SENECA investigators

The modified dietary history, which was used for assessment of food consumption in the Euronut SENECA study, was validated against a 3-day weighed record in a subsample of 82 elderly subjects from 11 of the 19 participating centres. The modified dietary history provided consistently higher intakes of energy and nutrients than the weighed record, with a median difference of 14% (energy) of the record mean. Unattenuated correlation coefficients for nutrient intakes varied from 0.18 (vitamin A) to 0.79 (water) with a median coefficient of 0.58 (energy). On the whole there was a fair agreement between the dietary history and the 3-day weighed record when nutrients were expressed in weight units and a good agreement when standardized for the apparently lower energy intake by the record method.