Estimation of Usual Intakes: What We Eat in America–NHANES

Usual intakes of nutrients are reliable indicators for making associations between diet and health or disease risks. Estimates of consumption of specific foods and food groups are also important for evaluating the progress in meeting key objectives in such national public health initiatives as Healthy People 2010. Reliable and valid estimates of intakes of particular foods, food ingredients, dietary supplements and other bioactive substances are also needed for dietary assessment and regulatory purposes. The ability to generate useful estimates of these constituents often requires much larger sample sizes than are needed for estimating nutrient intakes. Statistical methods recommended by the National Academy of Sciences are described that provide estimates of distributions of usual nutrient intakes and permit dietary assessment and planning at the population level. Statistical and modeling approaches for estimating intakes of foods, dietary supplements and other bioactive substances are also summarized. Based on the deliberations of discussion groups consisting of members of key stakeholder groups involved in the planning, implementation and utilization of national survey data, a high priority was placed on the need for more research to determine the best approaches for applying these methods to dietary data in the integrated What We Eat in America-National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).