Two innovative web-based
dietary assessment tools for use in large-scale studies were developed
recently; first being the Riksmaten method (detailed 4-day food record tool)
and the second one was MiniMeal-Q (food frequency questionnaire).
‘Objective biomarkers of dietary intake could play an important role in nutrition research.’
Riksmaten Method: This is a web-based 4-day food record tool which is
self-administered by the participant. The participants follow a food list in
the web tool which is linked to portion size estimates.
MiniMeal-Q: This is a web-based food
frequency questionnaire, which is semi-quantitative in nature and includes five
portion size options. It has a dynamic structure and includes between 75 to 126
food items.
For both the
above mentioned methods, the energy and nutrient intakes were calculated as the
average intake of unit/per day.
What
is the Study About?
- A study
was conducted to examine the ability of the two self-reported methods to
capture habitual dietary using objective biomarkers.
- Intake of
fruits and
vegetables was detected using carotenoids as biomarkers, whereas
for whole grain wheat and rye intake, alkylresorcinols were used as
biomarkers. This study is one of the first validation studies to use
alkylresorcinols as objective biomarkers of whole
grain wheat and rye intake.
- It
included 200 individuals from the pilot study of the Swedish
CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study (SCAPIS), which is a prospective,
multicenter observational study.
Methods - Participants
were subjected to the MiniMeal-Q questionnaire and introduced to the
web-platform of the Riksmaten method.
- In both
the methods, the total amount of fruits and vegetables consumed was
calculated.
- High-performance
liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the plasma
concentration of carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin,
lycopene, α-carotene and β-carotene) and used as biomarkers of fruit and
vegetable intake.
- Alkylresorcinol
homologues, which were used as biomarkers of whole grain wheat and rye
intake, were quantified using gas chromatography mass spectrometry
(GC-MS).
Results - It was seen that the correlations between
energy-adjusted fruit and vegetable intakes and plasma carotenoid
concentrations (except lycopene) were higher amongst women than men in
both the methods. Upon comparison of consumption of whole grains, women
reportedly had a slightly higher intake in MiniMeal-Q compared to the
Riksmaten method, 25.6 g/day and 19.3 g/day, respectively whereas no
differences between the methods were seen for men.
- The correlation coefficient between
energy-adjusted intake of whole grain and alkylresorcinols was reported to
be higher by the Riksmaten method than by MiniMeal-Q. All correlations
were statistically significant except for men in MiniMeal-Q.
Conclusion - Both
dietary assessment methods were able to capture dietary intake based on
food groups with a similar precision.
- Agreements
with objective biomarkers varied from low to moderate and seemed to depend
on gender and diet
quality indicator.
- Both
web-based assessment methods could capture fruit and vegetable intake in a
satisfactory manner, especially for women. however, the performance of whole grain wheat and rye assessment was
not quite adequate.
Limitations - Biomarkers
and the dietary assessment methods could reflect different time dimensions
to some extent, and that blood samples used for biomarker analyses were
sampled up to 5 weeks from collecting dietary intake data.
- The
biomarkers have a relatively short half-life which could lead to
substantial within-person random variation in the biomarker concentrations
measured.
Reference :- Sanna Nybacka et al; Carotenoids and alkylresorcinols as objective biomarkers of diet quality when assessing the validity of a web-based food record tool and a food frequency questionnaire in a middle-aged population; BMC Nutrition 2016; DOI: 10.1186/s40795-016-0094-2
Source: Medindia
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