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Which One to Choose? Selecting Food Consumption Measurement Methods for Decision‐Making in Nutrition and Food Security Programs
Author(s) -
Coates Jennifer,
Colaiezzi Brooke,
Fiedler John,
Wirth James,
Lividini Keith,
Rogers Beatrice
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.826.7
Subject(s) - food security , consumption (sociology) , psychological intervention , computer science , resource (disambiguation) , environmental economics , marketing , business , psychology , economics , agriculture , social science , sociology , ecology , computer network , psychiatry , biology
Food consumption and dietary intake data are critical inputs into the design, implementation and evaluation of large‐scale nutrition and food security programs. Food consumption measurement methods (FCM) vary widely in terms of how validly they can be used to meet different program information requirements throughout the program cycle and range in terms of the time, cost, and expertise required. This paper presents a) a conceptual framework of the food and nutrient consumption information required by categories of nutrition interventions and b) a decision‐tree to guide the selection of the most appropriate FCM for different types of programming decisions within given resource constraints. A review of the peer‐reviewed and gray literature was complemented by semi‐structured interviews with 25 internationally recognized subject matter experts in order to assess the characteristics of 24‐hour Recall, Food Frequency Questionnaires, Food Balance Sheets, Dietary Diversity Indices, and Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys. Each method was rated in terms of its resource requirements, validity, and accuracy for meeting each type of program information need. The results suggested that each food consumption method has strengths and weaknesses that vary according to contextual purpose and should be used complementarily to answer different programmatic questions and to triangulate results.