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Diet Analysis Essay

Decent Essays

The aim of this research project is to evaluate whether the members of this group consume a healthy diet including adequate macro and micro nutrients consistent with the Nutrient Reference Values (NRV) as recommended by the Australian Government. Nutrient Reference Values or NRV’s are based on current scientific knowledge and encompass a set of recommendations for nutritional intake. - Estimated Average Requirement is the amount of a certain nutrient that must be consumed each day to meet the needs of half the healthy individuals at a specific life stage and gender. - Recommended Dietary Intake is the average amount of a certain nutrient that must be consumed each day in order to meet the needs of about 97-98% of healthy individuals at a specific …show more content…

The advantages of this type of assessment is its high response rate and the face-to-face nature of the interview supports detailed recall and clarification with the researcher (Rutishauser 2005), increasing reliability. There is also no literacy requirement and the burden on participants is minimal. Most significantly, this type of dietary assessment does not cause the participant to consciously or subconsciously alter their eating pattern (Biro 2002). The main disadvantage of this method is that it does not give any indication on the habitual intake of the participant. A 24 hour recall also may not be suitable for groups who are unable to recall intake (Rutishauser 2005). The method also requires interviewers that are highly skilled in identifying various foods as well as methods of preparation and different religious or ethnic food practices (Biro …show more content…

Participants choose from three to four times per week, one to two times per week, one to two times per month, once per month or never for each of the food options (Rutishauser 2005). The advantages of a food frequency questionnaire is that it is designed to be completed independently by the participant making it practical and cost effective in collecting data from a large cohort (Rutishauser 2005). This method also allows the foods to be ranked, then characteristics of foods with low and high intakes can be compared (Biro 2002). The disadvantages of this method include the lack of detail about food and the high instance of random error (Rutishauser 2005). This method also relies on memory recall of the participant which can be imprecise (Biro

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