Comparison of Methods for Estimating Dietary Food and Nutrient Intakes and Intake Densities from Household Consumption and Expenditure Data in Mongolia

Abstract

Household consumption and expenditure surveys are frequently conducted around the world and they usually include data on household food consumption, but their applicability to nutrition research is limited by their collection at the household level. Using data from Mongolia, this study evaluated four approaches for estimating diet from household surveys: direct inference from per-capita household consumption; disaggregation of household consumption using a statistical method and the “adult male equivalent” method, and direct prediction of dietary intake. Per-capita household consumption overestimated dietary energy in single- and multi-person households by factors of 2.63 and 1.89, respectively. Performance of disaggregation methods was variable across two household surveys analyzed, while the statistical method exhibited less bias in estimating intake densities (per 100 kcal) of most dietary components in both of the surveys. Increasingly complex prediction models explained 54% to 72% of in-sample variation in dietary energy, with consistent benefits incurred by inclusion of basic dietary measurements. In conclusion, in Mongolia and elsewhere, differences in how household and dietary measurements are recorded make their comparison challenging. Validity of disaggregation methods depends on household survey characteristics and the dietary components that are considered. Relatively precise prediction models of dietary intake can be achieved by integrating basic dietary assessment into household surveys.

Diet and Nutrition Status of Mongolian Adults

“…While contingent on efforts to increase the diversity and quality of foods supplied, one important strategy that will improve both micronutrient intake and NCD risk in Mongolia will be the revision of the country's dietary guidelines, which are both inadequately publicized and are not well-informed by nutrition science [53]. Finally, research priorities going forward should include the compilation, dissemination, and periodic update of national food composition data as many unique local dairy products and other foods cannot be easily imputed using foreign data; development, validation, and dissemination of standardized dietary assessment instruments; implementation of a national dietary surveillance system (potentially co-opting available household and commercial data platforms [54]); and continued development and follow-up of cohorts and other study populations for the purpose of nutritional epidemiology [55].…”

A comparison of diet quality indices in a nationally representative cross-sectional study of Iranian households

“…The per capita approach used in the present study assumes equal distribution of food intakes between household members regardless of age, sex and physical activity [64]. While there is a paucity of research into the validity of household dietary assessment methodologies for estimating individual dietary intake in low and middle-income countries, evidence suggests that the per capita approach may overestimate individual dietary intakes from 24-h dietary recalls [38,65].…”

“…The per capita approach used in the present study assumes equal distribution of food intakes between household members regardless of age, sex and physical activity [ 64 ]. While there is a paucity of research into the validity of household dietary assessment methodologies for estimating individual dietary intake in low and middle-income countries, evidence suggests that the per capita approach may overestimate individual dietary intakes from 24-h dietary recalls [ 38 , 65 ]. Secondly, while HEI is independent of an individual‘s energy intake [ 41 ] and has been used in previous research to assess the diet quality of households [ 66 , 67 ], the DQI-I was designed to assess the diet quality of individuals [ 29 ].…”

Raw versus cooked food matching: Nutrient intake using the 2015/16 Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey

“…HCES collect information on households’ food acquisition and/or consumption; however, their use for dietary assessment is limited to complying with minimum reliability standards, such as considering all possible food sources, capturing the most relevant foods consumed by households and using a food recall period of two weeks or less ( Smith et al, 2014 ). Furthermore, these surveys suffer from limitations such as the impossibility to assess individual intakes ( Bromage et al, 2018 ), challenges in computing the nutrient content from foods consumed away from home ( Moltedo et al, 2018 ), lack of specificity with regard to food use (consumption, waste, food given to pets), and lack of information on food preparation and cooking phases ( Fabbri and Crosby, 2016 ).…”