title: Long-term prospective studies: the only solution?
abstract: One of the advantages of prospective studies in nutritional epidemiology is that dietary patterns and nutrient intake data are collected before the occurrence of the disease. With such a design it is possible to study the contribution of dietary variables in explaining the occurrence of diseases between different cultures and within populations. In order to make a good estimate of the relation between a dietary variable and the occurrence of a disease in long-term prospective studies, it is necessary to have insight in the changes of dietary variables with time. For prospective cohort studies also information about the reproducibility of a dietary variable is needed. Long-term prospective studies with repeated dietary measures provide a powerful tool in studying diet-disease relations, but practical limitations may prevent the implementation of such designs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kromhout
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Lezenne Coulander
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Bloemberg
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D011446:Prospective Studies