Methodological issues regarding eating behavior of high-risk adolescents

Teens exist in multiple environments that offer a variety of foods and a range in nutrient intakes. Currently used dietary data-collection methods may not be contemporary and encompass the real world of today's youth. If we consider respondent capability when we design our dietary assessment methods, then we can increase accuracy and reduce errors in our data. Our methodological challenge is to improve collection methods and to: Focus on the teen and his or her respective environments, Develop environment-specific probes within food records, recalls, checklists, and frequencies, Inbed safeguards to assure impartial reporting when surrogate respondents-for example, parents or school food service staff-are queried, Differentiate between foods "as offered or available at the home or school" versus foods as actually selected and eaten, Tease out the influence of peers and older siblings on food choices versus selections based on personal choice or cost, Employ cooperative education in the classroom so teens will feel comfortable with spontaneous interviews by unfamiliar people, Train students in dietary recordkeeping procedures by incorporating assessment activities into the classroom instruction. In conclusion, the teen lives in multiple environments that influence his or her food and nutrient intake. To increase validity, reliability, and our confidence in the dietary data about teens, we must acknowledge these microenvironments and evolve our methods. The process must be evolutionary not revolutionary like the lives of many teens. The result will be an increased accuracy in both defining actual nutrient intakes and exploring the role foods and nutrients have in the overall health or nutrient deficit teens face.