Comparison of dietary fat and fatty acid intake estimated by the duplicate diet collection technique and estimated dietary records.
BACKGROUND
A high saturated fatty acid intake is a well recognized risk factor for coronary heart disease development. More recently a high intake of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in combination with a low intake of the long chain n-3 PUFA, eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid has also been implicated as an important risk factor.


OBJECTIVE
To compare total dietary fat and fatty acid intake measured by chemical analysis of duplicate diets with nutritional database analysis of estimated dietary records, collected over the same 3-day study period.


METHODS
Total fat was analysed using soxhlet extraction and subsequently the individual fatty acid content of the diet was determined by gas chromatography. Estimated dietary records were analysed using a nutrient database which was supplemented with a selection of dishes commonly consumed by study participants.


RESULTS
Bland & Altman statistical analysis demonstrated a lack of agreement between the two dietary assessment techniques for determining dietary fat and fatty acid intake.


CONCLUSIONS
The lack of agreement observed between dietary evaluation techniques may be attributed to inadequacies in either or both assessment techniques. This study highlights the difficulties that may be encountered when attempting to accurately evaluate dietary fat intake among the population.
School of Food Biosciences, The University of Reading, Reading, UK.
L M
LM
Brady
S V M
SV
Lesauvage
N
N
Saini
C M
CM
Williams
J A
JA
Lovegrove
D000368:Aged; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D015930:Diet Records; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000032:analysis*; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000032:analysis*; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6 / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005504:Food Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
D004041:Dietary Fats; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6