Development of an estimated food record for 9-36-month-old toddlers

Adequacy of dietary intake in the sensitive period of toddler development is a key determinant of health in a short- and long-term perspective. Therefore, studies focussing the nutrition of toddlers are of importance. For this purpose, tailored dietary record methods are an important prerequisite. The objective of this work is to develop a toddler-specific estimated food record (EFR) in a booklet providing photographs of age-specific foods and portion sizes that should be accurate and simple.

For a toddler study in Germany, a 7-day consecutive EFR was developed. Data were obtained from a sample of toddlers in Germany. The basis is an evaluation of 3-day weighing food records on food choice and portion size of the DONALD (Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed) study for 227 toddlers (118 boys) aged 9-36 months from January 2004 to March 2008.

In the analysed food records, a total of 15.147 eating occasions with 24.820 dishes were reported and grouped in 17 food groups. To estimate the portion size, the median consumption amounts of the 194 most frequently consumed dishes were calculated and photographed. Formula and commercial complementary food are collected separately. EFR was structured into seven eating occasions of the day: before breakfast, breakfast, mid-morning, lunch, mid-afternoon, dinner, and before bed.

The EFR booklet provides a simple, feasible and validated instrument that can be used to update information on dietary habits during the transition from infant to childhood diet for families in different social classes.