Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T12:27:17.386Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Assessment of diet in young children with an emphasis on fruit and vegetable intake: using CADET – Child and Diet Evaluation Tool

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

JE Cade ,
L Frear  and
DC Greenwood
JE Cade*
Affiliation:
Nutritional Epidemiology Group, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Leeds, 30–32 Hyde Terrace, Leeds LS2 9LN, UK
L Frear
Affiliation:
Nutritional Epidemiology Group, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Leeds, 30–32 Hyde Terrace, Leeds LS2 9LN, UK
DC Greenwood
Affiliation:
Nutritional Epidemiology Group, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Leeds, 30–32 Hyde Terrace, Leeds LS2 9LN, UK
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Objectives

To develop a concise, simple tool for use by non-specialists to assess diet in children aged 3–7 years attending primary schools.

Design

A 24-hour food tick list covering all aspects of the diet and with a focus on fruit and vegetable consumption was developed. This was compared against a 24-hour semi-weighed food diary obtained for the same day as the tick list.

Setting

Six primary schools with a range of socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds from a large city in the north of England (Leeds).

Participants

One hundred and eighty children returned completed packs of information; a response rate of 77% of those who were willing to take part, 48% of those approached.

Results

On average, 2.4 items of fruit including juice (2.1 items as 5-a-day count) were eaten and 1.6 items of vegetables (excluding potato). Twenty-seven per cent and 36% of boys and 23% and 24% of girls reported not eating any fruit or vegetables, respectively, on the recording day. Correlations comparing the diary and tick list were high for both foods (range r = 0.44 to 0.89) and nutrients (range r = 0.41 to 0.68). The level of misclassification was much less than would be expected by chance. Parent and teacher evaluation of the tick list was very positive. Parents felt the tick list was easy and quick to complete.

Conclusion

The Child and Diet Evaluation Tool (CADET) tick list has been used successfully for rapid collection of food and nutrient information from children aged 3–7 years from diverse social and ethnic backgrounds. The tool has performed better than many food-frequency questionnaires in comparison to a food diary.

Keywords

ChildrenDietValidation
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , June 2006 , pp. 501 - 508
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2006

References

1Perez-Rodrigo, C, Klepp, KI, Yngve, A, Sjostrom, M, Stockley, L, Aranceta, J. The school setting: an opportunity for the implementation of dietary guidelines. Public Health Nutrition 2001; 4: 717–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Gibson, EL, Wardle, J, Watts, CJ. Fruit and vegetable consumption, nutritional knowledge and beliefs in mothers and children. Appetite 1998; 31: 205–28.Google Scholar
3Gregory, J, Lowe, S, Bates, CJ, Prentice, A, Jackson, L, Smithers, G, et al. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: Young People aged 4 to 18 years. London: The Stationery Office, 2000.Google Scholar
4Livingstone, MBE, Robson, PJ, Wallace, JMW. Issues in dietary intake assessment of children and adolescents. British Journal of Nutrition 2004; 92: S213–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Byers, T, Trieber, F, Gunter, E, Coates, R, Sowell, A, Leonard, S, et al. The accuracy of parental reports of their children's intake of fruits and vegetables: validation of a food frequency questionnaire with serum levels of carotenoids and vitamins C, A, and E. Epidemiology 1993; 4: 350–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Coufopoulos, A-M, Maggs, C, Hackett, A. Doing dietary research with adolescents: the problems of data collection in the school setting. International Journal of Health Promotion & Education 2001; 39: 100–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7McPherson, RS, Hoelscher, DM, Alexander, M, Scanlon, KS, Serdula, MK. Dietary assessment methods among school-aged children: validity and reliability. Preventive Medicine 2000; 31: S11–33.Google Scholar
8Bland, JM, Altman, DG. Comparing two methods of clinical measurement: a personal history. International Journal of Epidemiology 1995; 24: S7–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Bland, JM, Altman, DG. Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet 1986; 1: 307–10.Google Scholar
10Department for Education and Skills. Statistics of Education Schools in England 2002 Edition. London: The Stationery Office, 2002.Google Scholar
11Chinn, S, Rona, RJ. Prevalence and trends in overweight and obesity in three cross sectional studies of British children, 1974–94. British Medical Journal 2001; 322: 24–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Sahota, P, Rudolf, MC, Dixey, R, Hill, AJ, Barth, JH, Cade, J. Randomised controlled trial of primary school based intervention to reduce risk factors for obesity. British Medical Journal 2001; 323: 1029–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13Department of Health. The National School Fruit Scheme: Evaluation Summary. London: The Stationery Office, 2001. Also available at http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetroot/04/01/92/32/04019232.pdf.Google Scholar
14Barasi, ME. Human Nutrition. A Health Perspective. London: Arnold, 1997.Google Scholar
15Garrow, JS, James, WPT, Ralph, A. Human Nutrition and Dietetics. London: Churchill Livingstone, 2000.Google Scholar
16Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Food Portion Sizes, 2nd ed. London: The Stationery Office, 1993.Google Scholar
17Cade, J, Thompson, R, Burley, V, Warm, D. Development, validation and utilisation of food-frequency questionnaires. Public Health Nutrition 2002; 5: 567–87.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18Shimizu, H, Ohwaki, A, Kurisu, Y, Takatsuka, N, Ido, M, Kawakami, N, et al. Validity and reproducibility of a quantitative food frequency questionnaire for a cohort study in Japan. Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology 1999; 29: 38–44.Google Scholar
19Blom, L, Lundmark, K, Dahlquist, G, Persson, LA. Estimating children's eating habits. Validity of a questionnaire measuring food frequency compared to a 7-day record. Acta Paediatrica Scandinavica 1989; 78: 858–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20Kristal, AR, Beresford, SA, Lazovich, D. Assessing change in diet-intervention research. American Journal Clinical Nutrition 1994; 59: 185S–9S.Google Scholar
21Clapp, JA, McPherson, RS, Reed, DB, Hsi, BP. Comparison of a food frequency questionnaire using reported vs standard portion sizes for classifying individuals according to nutrient intake. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1991; 91: 316–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22Rockett, HR, Colditz, GA. Assessing diets of children and adolescents. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1997; 65: 1116S–22S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23Domel, SB, Baranowski, T, Davis, H, Leonard, SB, Riley, P, Baranowski, J. Fruit and vegetable food frequencies by fourth and fifth grade students: validity and reliability. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 1994; 13: 33–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24Lemaitre, RN, King, IB, Patterson, RE, Psaty, BM, Kestin, M, Heckbert, SR. Assessment of trans-fatty acid intake with a food frequency questionnaire and validation with adipose tissue levels of trans-fatty acids. American Journal of Epidemiology 1998; 148: 1085–93.Google Scholar