Premium
Meals and energy intake among elderly women – an analysis of qualitative and quantitative dietary assessment methods
Author(s) -
Andersson J. C.,
Gustafsson K.,
Fjellström C.,
Sidenvall B.,
Nydahl M.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of human nutrition and dietetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1365-277X
pISSN - 0952-3871
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-277x.2001.00313.x
Subject(s) - medicine , malnutrition , food intake , gerontology , qualitative analysis , food group , qualitative research , environmental health , demography , social science , sociology
Objective: The objective of this study was to analyse whether a qualitative method, in relation to traditional dietary assessment methods, was adequate to establish sufficient energy intake and energy content in separate meals in a population of elderly women. Methods: One hundred and thirty‐five elderly women, aged 63–88 years, living at home from three communities in mid‐eastern Sweden participated in the present study. The quantitative methods used were a combination of repeated 24‐h recall and a 3‐day estimated food diary. The qualitative method used was the Food‐Based Classification of Eating episodes model (FBCE). Results: The mean intake of energy estimated by the 5‐day registration was 6.8 ± 1.9 MJ. The total number of eating events was 5.22 ± 1.04 per day. On a group level, FBCE was useful to describe the diet among a group of elderly women; however, on an individual level, some complete meals were low or very low in energy, due to small portion sizes. Conclusion: The main conclusion was that a qualitative method, such as FBCE, must be supplemented with a dietary assessment method giving the energy intake to ensure that it is sufficient, especially when studying groups at risk for malnutrition.