Using Intake Biomarkers to Evaluate the Extent of Dietary Misreporting in a Large Sample of Adults: The OPEN Study
Abstract
This paper describes the Observing Protein and Energy Nutrition (OPEN) Study, conducted from September 1999 to March 2000. The purpose of the study was to assess dietary measurement error using two self-reported dietary instruments-the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and the 24-hour dietary recall (24HR)-and unbiased biomarkers of energy and protein intakes: doubly labeled water and urinary nitrogen. Participants were 484 men and women aged 40-69 years from Montgomery County, Maryland. Nine percent of men and 7% of women were defined as underreporters of both energy and protein intake on 24HRs; for FFQs, the comparable values were 35% for men and 23% for women. On average, men underreported energy intake compared with total energy expenditure by 12-14% on 24HRs and 31-36% on FFQs and underreported protein intake compared with a protein biomarker by 11-12% on 24HRs and 30-34% on FFQs. Women underreported energy intake on 24HRs by 16-20% and on FFQs by 34-38% and underreported protein intake by 11-15% on 24HRs and 27-32% on FFQs. There was little underreporting of the percentage of energy from protein for men or women. These findings have important implications for nutritional epidemiology and dietary surveillance.
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Nutritional studies are prone to measurement error, underreporting of dietary consumption, and recall bias.
“Finally, nutritional studies are prone to measurement error, underreporting of dietary consumption, and recall bias [98,99].”
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- Authors
- Subar, A. F.
- Affiliations
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Corresponding author
- Subar, A. F.
- Venue
- American Journal of Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2003-07-01
- Volume
- 158
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-13
- ISSN
- 0002-9262 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2134683897
- Cited by
- 1,070
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 31 · 2025: 39 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 50 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 50 · 2018: 52 · 2017: 51 · 2016: 46 · 2015: 64 · 2014: 56 · 2013: 63 · 2012: 61
- FWCI
- 39.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutrition and Health Studies
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Keywords
- dietary misreporting, energy intake, protein intake, food frequency questionnaire, 24-hour dietary recall, doubly labeled water, urinary nitrogen, underreporting, energy expenditure
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Energy Intake, Diet, Diet Surveys, Dietary Proteins, Female, Humans, Male, Maryland, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Research Design, Urea, Biomarkers, Bias, Epidemiologic Studies, Deuterium Oxide
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