When children and adolescents are the target population in dietary surveys many different respondent and observer considerations surface. The cognitive abilities required to self-report food intake include an adequately developed concept of time, a good memory and attention span, and a knowledge of the names of foods. From the age of 8 years there is a rapid increase in the ability of children to self-report food intake. However, while cognitive abilities should be fully developed by adolescence, issues of motivation and body image may hinder willingness to report. Ten validation studies of energy intake data have demonstrated that mis-reporting, usually in the direction of under-reporting, is likely. Patterns of under-reporting vary with age, and are influenced by weight status and the dietary survey method used. Furthermore, evidence for the existence of subject-specific responding in dietary assessment challenges the assumption that repeated measurements of dietary intake will eventually obtain valid data. Unfortunately, the ability to detect mis-reporters, by comparison with presumed energy requirements, is limited unless detailed activity information is available to allow the energy intake of each subject to be evaluated individually. In addition, high variability in nutrient intakes implies that, if intakes are valid, prolonged dietary recording will be required to rank children correctly for distribution analysis. Future research should focus on refining dietary survey methods to make them more sensitive to different ages and cognitive abilities. The development of improved techniques for identification of mis-reporters and investigation of the issue of differential reporting of foods should also be given priority.

Objective: The purpose of this survey was to establish a database of habitual food and drink consumption in a representative sample of Irish adults aged 18-64 years.

Objective: To evaluate the errors incurred by young adults using single portion size colour food photographs to quantify foods and nutrients consumed at six meals on two non-consecutive days. Design: Breakfast menus remained the same for the 2 days; but lunch and dinner menus varied. The amounts of food eaten by individuals were determined by weighing individual serving dishes pre-and post-consumption. The day after eating, all foods consumed were quanti®ed in terms of fractions or multiples of the amounts shown in the food photographs. Subjects: Thirty adult volunteers (15 male, 15 female), aged 18±36 years, completed the protocol for day one; 27 (90%) completed day two. Results: Some foods were more dif®cult to quantify accurately than others. The largest error range was -38. 9% to 284.6% (cheese), whereas the smallest errors were incurred for juice (-21.5% to 34.6%, day one). All subjects who consumed muesli (day one) overestimated (3.7% to 113.7%). No other foods were consistently overor underestimated. For foods consumed at breakfast by the same subjects on both days, individual estimation errors were inconsistent in magnitude and/or direction. At the group level, most nutrients were estimated to within 610% of intake; exceptions were thiamin (10.5%, day one) and vitamin E (-10.1%, day one; -15.3%, day two). Between 63% and 80% of subjects were correctly classi®ed into tertiles on the basis of estimated intakes. Conclusions: Despite some large food quanti®cation errors, single portion size food photographs were effective when used to estimate nutrient intakes at the group level. It remains to be established whether, under the conditions used in this study, more photographs per food would improve estimates of nutrient intake at the individual level.

Objective: Incorporation of fish oil into food products provides a means of increasing n–3 fatty acid intake, particularly in populations where fish consumption remains low. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the bioavailability of n–3 PUFA in microencapsulated fish-oil-enriched foods compared with an equal amount of n–3 PUFAs contained in fish oil capsules. Methods: Twenty-five healthy female volunteers were randomly assigned to one of two groups for the 4-week intervention: one group received 0.9 g of n–3 PUFA/day as fish oil capsule (capsule group), while the second group (food group) received an equal amount of n–3 PUFA/day from enriched foods. Baseline and post-intervention samples were analysed for platelet fatty acid composition. Results: There was no significant difference in the change in platelet arachidonic acid (AA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) between the two groups following the intervention. Conclusions: The results indicate that n–3 PUFA from microencapsulated fish-oil-enriched foods are as bioavailable as n–3 PUFA in a capsule. Fortification of foods with microencapsulated fish oil, therefore, offers an effective way of increasing n–3 PUFA intakes and status in line with current dietary recommendations.

Objective: Mean daily intakes of dietary fibre (DF, Southgate) and non-starch polysaccharide (NSP, Englyst) are estimated in a representative sample of adults aged 18-64 years in Ireland. The contribution of food groups to DF and NSP intake is reported and fibre intakes are compared with dietary recommendations and with intakes in some European countries. Design: Food consumption was estimated using 7-day food diaries for a representative sample (n = 1379; 662 men, 717 women) of 18-64 year old adults in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland selected from the electoral register. DF and NSP intakes were estimated from tables of food composition. . The main food groups that contributed to mean daily intake of DF (NSP) in the sample were breads 31% (23%), potatoes 19% (23%), and vegetables 17% (19%). Absolute intakes of DF and NSP were higher (P < 0.001) in men than women; however, women overall consumed more (P < 0.001) fibre-dense diets than men. Women aged 18-35 years consumed less (P < 0.01) DF and NSP (g) than women aged 36-64 years. Both men and women aged 18-35 years consumed less (P < 0.01) fibre-dense diets than men and women aged 36-64 years. The NSP intake was below the nutritional goal of 18 g day" 1 in 77% of adults and below the minimum of the recommended range (12 g day" 1 ) in 37% of the total sample. Compliance (i.e. the maximum number of individuals whose collective mean daily intake corresponded to the population goal) with the (UK) population goal for an average intake of 18 g day" 1 NSP was achieved by a greater proportion of the population (63%) than compliance with the

This study evaluated the tracking of energy and nutrient intakes, assessed by diet history, in a random sample of adolescents (boys n 225, girls n 230) at baseline (age 12 years), and subsequently at age 15 years. Median energy (MJ/d) and macronutrient (g/d) intakes increased significantly (all P<0·001) with increasing age in the boys. The girls' reported energy intake (MJ/d) remained stable over time, despite significant increases in BMI, weight and % body fat. Age-related changes in the girls' macronutrient intakes were inconsistent. When expressed in terms of nutrient density, the diets of both sexes became significantly richer, over time, in total folate (both sexes, P<0·01), but poorer in Ca (boys P<0·01, girls P<0·001) and riboflavin (both sexes P<0·001). Vitamin B6 (P<0·001) and Fe (P<0·05) densities increased in the boys, while the thiamin density of the girls' diets decreased (P<0·001). Tracking, defined as maintenance of rank over time, was summarised using weighted kappa statistics (κ). There were some significant changes in intakes at the group level; however, tracking of energy and nutrients in both sexes was only poor to fair (κ<0·40), indicating substantial drift of individuals between classes of intake over time. Particularly poor tracking was evident for % energy from sugars (κ 0·09) and total fat (κ 0·09) in the girls' diets. In conclusion, the poor to fair tracking observed in this cohort suggests that individual dietary patterns exhibited at 12 years of age are unlikely to be predictive of energy and nutrient intake at age 15 years.

The respiratory effects of a new strong analgesic, meptazinol, were compared with a placebo and with equianalgesic doses of morphine and pentazocine in a double-blind crossover trial in seven healthy volunteers. No significant change in the ventilatory response to rebreathing carbon dioxide was observed after meptazinol 100 mg/70 kg or placebo. However, both morphine 10 mg/70 kg and pentazocine 60 mg/70 kg depresesd the slope of the ventilatory response (-30.0% and -31.6% respectively, P less than 0.02, averaged over the first 3.5-h period). End-tidal carbon dioxide tension (PE'CO2) while breathing room air increased significantly following all three drugs. However, the increase in PE'CO2 after meptazinol (0.22 kPa averaged over 3.5 h) was significantly less than that following morphine (0.40 kPa, P less than 0.05) and pentazocine (0.59 kPa, P less than 0.01). While breathing room air with a resistive inspiratory load of 8 kPa litre-1 s, PE'CO2 again increased significantly (P less than 0.05) following all three drugs. The increase in PE'CO2 after meptazinol was then the same as that after morphine (0.51 kPa averaged over 3.5 h). The increase following pentazocine (0.80 kPa) was significantly greater than that after both morphine and meptazinol (P less than 0.02).

Summary. The analgesic efficacy and safety of intramuscular meptazinol and pethidine in the first stage of labour were compared in a randomized double‐blind trial in 358 patients. Pain relief was measured on a verbal rating scale, maternal side effects were recorded and neonatal outcome assessed in the first 24 h. Pain relief during the first hour after injection was significantly greater in the meptazinol than in the pethidine group at 45 and 60 min. Thereafter, there was no difference between the treatments, and the duration of action was approximately the same. Twenty‐eight per cent of patients experienced side effects after meptazinol compared with 35% after pethidine. The commonest were nausea and vomiting with a similar incidence in both groups. Most of the neonatal observations revealed no difference between the two drugs, but significantly more babies whose mothers had received meptazinol had an Apgar score of 8 at 1 min after birth.