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Dietary underreporting by obese individuals--is it specific or non-specific?
1Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Institute of Preventive Medicine, Copenhagen, Denmark.
BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.)
|October 14, 1995
Summary
Obese individuals tend to underreport energy and protein intake, with a disproportionate overreporting of protein compared to energy. This suggests specific food types, like snacks, are preferentially omitted in dietary recall among the obese.
Area of Science:
- Nutrition Science
- Obesity Research
- Dietary Assessment
Background:
- Accurate dietary assessment is crucial for understanding obesity.
- Dietary reporting biases can significantly impact nutritional studies.
- Macronutrient density patterns require examination in relation to body composition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between macronutrient density patterns and obesity.
- To assess biases in dietary reporting of energy and protein intake among adults.
- To compare self-reported intake with objective measures in relation to body fat percentage.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study design conducted in Denmark.
- Inclusion of 323 randomly selected adults aged 35-65 years.
- Dietary intake assessed via interview and validated by 24-hour nitrogen output and energy expenditure estimation.
Main Results:
- Obesity was positively associated with underreporting of total energy and protein intake.
- Obese subjects overreported protein relative to their reported total energy intake.
- Underreporting of energy was more pronounced in obese individuals compared to protein.
Conclusions:
- Dietary reporting errors for protein occur disproportionately relative to energy, indicating differential food reporting.
- Obese individuals exhibit a greater tendency to underreport energy intake compared to protein.
- Snack-type foods may be omitted more frequently by obese individuals during dietary recall, aligning with assumptions about underreporting of fatty and carbohydrate-rich foods.