Increasing prevalence of underreporting does not necessarily distort dietary surveys

Abstract

Objectives: To study the magnitude of and trends in energy underreporting and to compare food consumption, nutrient intake and socioeconomic characteristics of underreporters to those of other Finnish adults. Design: Cardioavscular risk factor surveys in 1982 and 1992 using a 3 d food record. Underreporting was de®ned as energy intake lower than 1.27*BMR, since energy intake`1.27*BMR is improbable. Setting: Four areas in Finland, both rural and urban. Subjects: 1746 men and 1921 women, aged 25±64 y. Results: Proportion of underreporters has increased from 33% in 1982 to 46% in 1992 among women and from 27% in 1982 to 42% in 1992 among men. In a logistic regression model, BMI over 25 kg/m 2 , female gender, age over 45 y and high educational level predicted underreporting. Shares of energy intake from fat, carbhoydrates, protein and alcohol remained the same whether or not underreporters were excluded. However, underreporters consumed signi®cantly higher proportion of vegetables, ®sh, meat, potatoes, fruit and berries and less fat than others. In the 1992 data the absolute intake of most micronutrients increased and micronutrient densities decreased when underreporters were excluded. Conclusions: The proportion of underreporters has grown from 1982 to 1992. Results expressed as a percentage of energy intake are not affected by the exclusion of underreporters. In contrast, micronutrient intakes, both absolute and energy density values, were distorted by underreporting. Underreporting should be taken into account in future studies.

Food selection and eating behaviour during weight maintenance intervention and 2-y follow-up in obese men

“…Misreporting of dietary intake can be general or specific, focusing on certain food groups. Previously, Finnish underreporters have been shown to selectively over-report the proportion of 'healthier' foods and under-report the intake of high-fat foods, 30 and similar phenomenon cannot be excluded in this study. Thus, it could be argued that simply the attention paid to certain dietary changes during dietary counselling could have induced selective misreporting by subjects and produced the reported changes in food consumption.…”

Dietary factors and their associations with socioeconomic background in Finnish girls and boys 6–8 years of age: the PANIC Study

“…In the present study, 21.9% of the girls and 26.4% of the boys can be considered underreporters of total energy intake when comparing dietary energy intake with energy intake calculated by a formula of 1.39xBMR (basal metabolic rate) -2.24xBMR in boys and 1.30xBMR -2.10xBMR in girls (Torun et al, 1996). It has been shown that underreporting does not affect the proportions of energy nutrients (Hirvonen et al, 1997). To reduce the effect of underreporting, the micronutrient intakes were adjusted for total energy intake.…”

Alcohol beverage drinking, diet and body mass index in a cross-sectional survey

“…Those whose ratio was below 1.28, according to the recommendation of FAO/ WHO/UNU (1985) were regarded as having implausibly measured energy intakes for free-living persons, and were classi®ed as energy underreporters. The detailed analysis of underreporting based on this criteria has been reported elsewhere (Hirvonen et al, 1997).…”