No abstract

Objective: In diet surveys, quantitative underestimation of food consumption may be due to intentional misreporting or false portion-size reporting. Perception of food photographs used as aids for assessing the actual amounts may have an effect. This study was carried out to assess the validity of food photographs. Design: A real-time test protocol where 52 presented food servings were compared against photographed portions with similar food items. Subjects: Volunteers from the Rehabilitation Company Petrea (in Turku) were recruited, 161 adults participated, and for 146 subjects, complete data were collected. Methods: The proportions of correct estimations and reporting errors, in weights and percentages, are presented by gender and food group. Food descriptors, portion-size options and subject characteristics were studied as potential determinants of accuracy in portion-size estimation. Results: The total proportion of exactly correct estimations was 51% in men and 49% in women. The overall reporting error was À10 g in men and þ 1 g in women for the 52 food servings. Underreporting was typical for bread, spread and cold cuts and dishes in both genders. Over-reporting was typical for cereals in both genders and for snacks, vegetables and fruit in women. The estimation error was associated with the portion-size options but not associated with the energy density of food items, education or body mass index. Conclusions: Food portions in photographs seem to be a useful aid for the quantification of most food items. However, validation studies are needed to test the applicability of photographs for estimating current portions and for searching better tools in dietary surveys.

According to the FINDIET 2007 Survey, the dietary habits of the adult Finnish population have headed in a positive direction overall. However, although the quality of the fats consumed has continued to improve, and the intake of salt has decreased, they still do not meet the recommended levels of intake. Similarly, the average intakes of folate and vitamin D continue to fall below the recommendations. There is also a need to increase fibre intake and to cut down the intake of sucrose.

At garrison and encampment, nutrient intakes reached recommendations. In free time, conscripts favored energy-rich nutrient-poor foods, which warrants intervening and dietary education.

Several studies have shown that lifestyle changes including weight reduction, increased physical activity, and dietary modification are effective in preventing the development of type 2 diabetes (1-4). However, various barriers are known to interfere with the adoption of a healthier lifestyle. One such barrier is diet costs (5). A few studies have explored the relationship between the quality and costs of diets (6 -13), and the results are conflicting. Observational studies (6 -10) suggest that a healthy diet costs more, whereas intervention studies (11-13) suggest that a healthy diet is not more expensive than a less healthy diet. The aim of this study was to discover whether adopting a diet composed in line with the current nutrition recommendations (14) affects diet costs. The changes in the costs of a self-selected diet among participants in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study (DPS) were studied. The diet costs were compared between the control group and intervention group receiving intensive dietary and exercise counseling. Furtherm o r e , t h e a s s o c i a t i o n s b e t w e e n background variables, diet quality determinants, and diet cost were analyzed.