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Strengths and Limitations of Food Composition Databases
Published in Dale A. Schoeller, Margriet S. Westerterp-Plantenga, Advances in the Assessment of Dietary Intake, 2017
To summarize, food composition databases are essential to meet many nutritional goals. Food composition data supports nutrition monitoring of the quality of the food supply, guides the development of dietary advice, aids in evaluation of an individual’s eating habits, supports the labeling of food products, evaluation of feeding programs, and supports nutrition research and development. The availability of free, reliable food data is one of our greatest strengths; however, constant changes in our food supply challenges the timeliness and accuracy of published data. Discovery of previously unknown factors challenges scientists to develop new assays and to apply them to an ever changing food supply. Reliable food data supports the formulation of rations for extreme conditions such as space exploration, war, and famine. U.S. dietary advice is informed by the U.S. Dietary Reference Intakes (Dietary Reference Intakes 2006) and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) (Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015–2020). The DRI document lays out the scientific underpinning for the recommendations, and the DGA translates this information into recommended food patterns. The availability of food composition data is essential for both activities.
Agriculture and Micronutrient Availability
Published in Bill Pritchard, Rodomiro Ortiz, Meera Shekar, Routledge Handbook of Food and Nutrition Security, 2016
Even in developed countries where abundant supplies of a wide variety of foods are readily available to most people, micronutrient supplies fall short of meeting recommended intakes for many people. Berner et al. (2014) examined the impact of food fortification on the nutritional adequacy of diets consumed by US children and adolescents. They used data from the 2003–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to estimate food intakes. Food composition data was used to calculate nutrient intakes from food intake data. They estimated intakes of nutrients intrinsic to the foods (without fortification) and also intakes of nutrients added to the foods as fortificants. They then compared these intakes against Estimated Average Requirements (EAR)1 for each of the groups in the study. Their results showed that without added nutrients, a high percentage of the children and adolescents would have had intakes below the EAR for multiple nutrients. This study shows quite convincingly that relying on nutrients naturally occurring in foods to meet nutrient requirements will often fall short, even in a wealthy country like the US.
Maternal Undernutrition and Reproductive Performance
Published in Frank Falkner, Infant and Child Nutrition Worldwide:, 2021
There is no perfect way to measure maternal nutritional status. Assessment can be based on physical examinations for clinical indicators of nutritional disease, anthropometry, laboratory analyses of blood, urine or other tissues to estimate nutrient levels, and estimates of dietary intake. Each technique has its own strengths and weaknesses, and detailed discussions on nutrition assessment methodology have been written (Christakis, 1973; Jelliffe, 1964; Rush, 1975). Assessment of food intake data is limited by difficulties in obtaining accurate measures of intake and lack of accurate food composition data. Assessment of laboratory measures of nutritional status is limited by methodological problems in the biochemical assay of certain nutrients. Of additional concern are the changes in nutrient serum levels and urinary excretion, which occur as normal physiological adaptations to pregnancy, but which resemble signs of deficiency in nonpregnant individuals (Hytten and Chamberlain, 1980; Hytten and Leitch, 1971; Winick, 1986). For example, even when maternal iron status is adequate, hemoglobin and hematocrit levels decrease as a result of hemodilution, and decreased levels of vitamins during pregnancy do not necessarily reflect dietary intake, and may represent a “normal” response to pregnancy. Finally, studies of energy balance and requirements are difficult to conduct and interpret. Even when similar methods have been used, estimates of maternal body composition, metabolism, physical activity and dietary intake vary between pregnant populations, as demonstrated by the recently published Five-Country Study (Durnin, 1987). Some studies in developing countries report that despite high levels of physical activity, energy balance can be maintained on dietary intakes that are much lower than recommended, suggesting that some populations may have the ability to adapt to low energy intake by increasing metabolic efficiency, and that people in developing countries could be more efficient than those in developed countries (Prentice, 1984). Evidence refuting this relationship also exists (Collaborative Research Support Program, 1988).
Ultra-Processed Food Intake and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: A Matched Case-Control Study
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2023
Fatemeh Jafari, Sazin Yarmand, Mehran Nouri, Elham Tavassoli Nejad, Atena Ramezani, Zahra Sohrabi, Bahram Rashidkhani
Dietary intakes were assessed using 125-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) based on commonly consumed foods by Iranians with the help of trained dietitians. This questionnaire has shown to have high validity and reproducibility in Iranian population (41, 42). Questionnaires were filled based on food intake of one year before the interviews for control group and one year before the cancer diagnosis for the CRC patients. In order to assist the patients to estimate their food types and portion sizes, validated food album (43) along with a set of household measuring items (such as tablespoon, cups, plates, bowls, spatula, teaspoon and glass) were used. Each food item’s portion size was converted to grams, then intake of each food was measured by portion size multiplied by frequency of daily intake. Energy value of foods were determined using Nutrients Composition of Iranian Foods (44) and for those that data were not available, USDA Food Composition data were used.
Nutrition and Breast Cancer Research in Arab Countries: Gaps, Opportunities, and Recommendations
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2021
Hibeh Shatila, Zaynab Fatfat, Rabih Talhouk, Salpy Naalbandian, Michele R. Forman, Rihab Nasr, Farah Naja
Within the context of nutrition exposure, this scoping review showed that majority of studies did not use any form of dietary assessment tools. In addition, among studies that included dietary assessment, FFQs and general questions about dietary habits were the most commonly used. Of The FFQs, very few were validated in the context where they were used. Together these findings raise concerns about the relevance of nutrition and dietary recommendations stemming from this research to the prevention of BC in Arab countries. While acknowledging the difficulties in measuring dietary intake, dietary assessment tools, including FFQs, 24 h, recalls and dietary records, among others, are important to describe the quantity and quality of individual’s dietary intake, without which examining the association between dietary intake and BC becomes rather challenging and in many instances irrelevant (61). Furthermore, these tools should be tested for their validity and reliability. Using tools that are not validated could lead to a misrepresentation of the dietary intake and hence would mask potential associations between diet and disease including BC (62). Therefore, enhancing dietary assessment in nutrition and BC research in Arab countries is an elemental step toward a better understanding of their association within the local context. Also linked to dietary assessment, this review showed that the use of food composition databases was rare and even when used these databases were not local and rather included data bases from countries with distinct dietary consumption patterns (such as the US). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, relevant, reliable and up-to-date food composition data are of fundamental importance not only in nutrition, dietetics and health, but also for other disciplines such as food science, biodiversity, plant breeding, food industry, trade, and food regulation (63). US-based food composition relies on foods grown in the US and therefore does not reveal the concentration of nutrients from food grown in an Arab country nor does the range in foods meet the range or type of foods eaten in Arab countries (64). Inadequate food composition data and their use may lead to erroneous research results and consequently incorrect public health recommendations for disease prevention and management. Hence, there exists an immediate need to accelerate the development of food composition data and tables relevant to the countries of the Arab region.
Increased Inflammatory Potential of Diet Is Associated with Increased Risk of Bladder Cancer in an Iranian Case-Control Study
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2019
Nitin Shivappa, James R. Hébert, Faezeh Mirsafa, Bahram Rashidkhani
Dietary Inflammatory Index: Details of the steps involved in DII calculation is described elsewhere (14). Participants’ dietary intake during the past year was assessed using a valid and reliable semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) (33). This FFQ consists of 168 food items which are representative of a typical Iranian diet (33), with standard serving sizes, and participants were asked to specify their consumption frequency for each food item on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis. Dietary intake of the Middle Eastern population has its own unique characteristics: large portion sizes with high intake of refined grains (white rice and bread) and hydrogenated fats and a greater percentage of energy from carbohydrates (35). Nutrients of foods were then calculated using the Nutrients Composition of Iranian Foods (NCIF) (36) supplemented with the USDA Food Composition Data. The consumption of alcohol was not asked to our participants due to their cultural beliefs and was not included in the analysis. The FFQ was interviewer-administered. FFQ-derived dietary data were used to calculate DII scores for all participants. A total of 25 food parameters were available from the FFQ and therefore could be used to calculate DII (energy, carbohydrate, protein, total fat, fiber, cholesterol, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, iron, magnesium, selenium, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, folic acid, β-carotene, and caffeine.). The DII is based on the literature published through 2010 linking diet to inflammation. Individuals’ intakes of food parameters on which the DII is based are then compared to a world standard database. A complete description of the DII is available elsewhere (14). A description of validation work, including both dietary recalls and a structured questionnaire similar to an FFQ, also is available (15,37). Briefly, to calculate DII for the participants of this study, the dietary data were first linked to the regionally representative world database that provided a robust estimate of a mean and standard deviation for each parameter (14). These then become the multipliers to express an individual’s exposure relative to the “standard global mean” as a z-score. This is achieved by subtracting the “standard global mean” from the amount reported and dividing this value by the standard deviation. To minimize the effect of “right skewing” (a common occurrence with dietary data), this value is then converted to a centered percentile score. The centered percentile score for each food parameter for everyone was then multiplied by the respective food parameter effect score, which is derived from the literature review, in order to obtain a food parameter-specific DII score for an individual. All the food parameter-specific DII scores are then summed to create the overall DII score for every participant in the study (14). Energy was adjusted for using the residual approach.