The Relative Validity of the 24 Hour Recall : Implications for Dietary Intake Methodology

The nutritional status of an individual depends on the balance between energy intake and expenditure. Both sides of this equation ore areas of research Interest, although in the last few years the emphasis has been largely on measurements of energy expenditure. This shift in emphasis arises from observations that the methods available for estimating energy intake are time consuming and call for a high degree of compliance both from the observer and the subject. In addition, as variations in dietary lntake are large with coefficients of variation (CV) often greater than 20 percent, estimates of energy intakes are likely to have a poor reproductibility.