title: Inter- and intra-individual variation of food and nutrient consumption in a rural Japanese population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the relative contribution of intra- and inter-individual variation in the consumption of foods and nutrients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two rural towns in the Miyagi Prefecture, a northeastern part of Japan.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-nine men and sixty women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four 3-d food records were collected in four seasons within a year. The total variance in the consumption of 15 nutrient variables and 16 food groups was partitioned by analysis of variance into its inter- and intra-individual components, separately for men and women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ratio of the intra- to inter-individual variance was larger than unity in 87% (13/15) of the nutrients in men and 100% (15/15) in women. The ratio was largest for retinol (52.9 in men and infinity in women) and smallest for carbohydrates (0.8 in men and 1.5 in women). The ratio was larger than unity in 88% (14/16) of the food groups in men and 94% (15/16) in women, which was smallest for cereals (0.6 in men and 0.9 in women).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results were consistent with previous western studies in that intra-individual variation was generally larger than inter-individual variation for the consumption of both foods and nutrients.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  This study was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture (09470106) and by Health Sciences Research Grants for Research on Health Services (H10-25) from the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Japan.
authors.affiliation: Public Health, Department of Social Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan. keikoo@mail.cc.tohoku.ac.jp
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsubono
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishino
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohkubo
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakatsuka
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hisamichi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D015930:Diet Records; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008903:Minerals / Q000008:administration & dosage; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D012424:Rural Population; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014815:Vitamins / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D004041:Dietary Fats; D004044:Dietary Proteins; D008903:Minerals; D014815:Vitamins; D014801:Vitamin A