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Objective: To compare reporting accuracy for breakfast and lunch in 2 studies. Design: Children were observed eating school meals and interviewed the following morning about the previous day. In Study 1, 104 children were each interviewed 1 to 3 times with [greater than or equal to] 25 days separating any 2 interviews. In Study 2, 121 children were each interviewed once in forward (morning-to-evening) and once in reverse (evening-to-morning) order, with these interviews separated by [greater than or equal to] 29 days. Setting: 12 schools. Participants: Fourth-grade children. Main Outcome Measures: For each meal, food-item variables (observed number, reported number, omission rate, intrusion rate, total inaccuracy) and kcal variables (observed, reported, correspondence rate, inflation ratio). Analysis: General linear mixed models. Results: For each study, observed and reported numbers of items and kcal, and correspondence rate (reporting accuracy), were greater for lunch than for breakfast; omission rate, intrusion rate, and inflation ratio (measures of reporting error) were greater for breakfast than for lunch. In Study 1, for each meal over interviews, total inaccuracy decreased and correspondence rate increased. In Study 2, for each meal for boys for reverse and for girls for forward order, omission rate was lower and correspondence rate was higher. Conclusions and Implications: Breakfast was reported less accurately than lunch. Despite improvement over interviews (Study 1) and differences for order x sex (Study 2), reporting accuracy was low for breakfast and lunch. Key Words: children, dietary recalls, reporting accuracy, school breakfast, school lunch, observation, validation

We investigated telephone administration of the Children's Social Desirability (CSD) scale and our adaptation for children of the Social Desirability for Food scale (C-SDF). Each of 100 4th-graders completed 2 telephone interviews 28 days apart. CSD scores had adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability, and a 14-item subset was identified that sufficiently measures the same construct. Our C-SDF scale performed less well in terms of internal consistency and test-retest reliability; factor analysis revealed 2 factors, 1 of which was moderately related to the CSD. The 14-item subset of the CSD scale may help researchers understand error in children's dietary reports. KEY WORDS: children, social desirability, dietary reports

Objective: To investigate the accuracy of children's dietary recalls of school breakfast and school lunch validated with observations and obtained during in-person versus telephone interviews. Design: Each child was observed eating school breakfast and school lunch and was interviewed that evening about that day's intake. Setting: Ten elementary schools. Participants: A sample of fourth-graders was randomly selected within race (black, white) and gender strata, observed, and interviewed in person (n = 33) or by telephone (n = 36). Main Outcomes Measured: Rates for omissions (items observed but not reported) and intrusions (items reported but not observed) were calculated to determine accuracy for reporting items. A measure of total inaccuracy was calculated to determine inaccuracy for reporting items and amounts combined. Analysis: Analysis of variance; chi-square. Results: Interview type (in person, telephone) did not significantly affect recall accuracy. For omission rate, intrusion rate, and total inaccuracy, means were 34%, 19%, and 4.6 servings for in-person recalls and 32%, 16%, and 4.3 servings for telephone recalls of school breakfast and school lunch. Conclusions and Implications: The accuracy of children's recalls of school breakfast and school lunch is not significantly different whether obtained in person or by telephone. Whether interviewed in person or by telephone, children reported only 67% of items observed; furthermore, 17% of items reported were not observed. KEY WORDS: children, dietary recalls, observations, validity, in person, telephone

Objective: To use data from observations and interviews to document fourth-graders' preferences for, and consumption of, fruits compared to vegetables available as part of school lunches. Design: Observations and interviews were conducted for studies regarding the impact of time interval between eating and reporting on the accuracy of children's school lunch recalls. Subjects/Settings: Children were recruited from up to 4 schools in one district during 3 school years; 63% agreed to participate. Randomly selected children (n = 237) were each observed eating school lunch once and were interviewed (regarding items eaten and preferences for items eaten) within 1 1/2 hours or the next morning. Main Outcome Measures: Observed consumption of servings of items available as part of school lunch was recorded as none, taste, little bit, half, most, and all. Response options for preferences for items available as part of school lunch were liked not at all, a little, and a lot. Statistical Analyses Performed: Mixed-model analysis of variance. Results: Preferences were higher for fruits than vegetables. As preferences increased, consumption increased (P < .0001). Consumption of fruits compared to vegetables was similar after adjusting for preferences. Implications: Research is needed to understand how to increase children's preferences for vegetables as a means of increasing consumption. Key Words: fruits, vegetables, school lunch, preferences, consumption (J Nutr Educ Behav. 2002;34:166-171.)

Objective: To explore fourth-graders' school breakfast participation by gender and race (black, white) and examine the extent to which parents' responses to 'Does this child usually eat school breakfast?' reflected their children's participation. Design: Parents answered 'yes' or 'no' to the questions printed on consent forms. Observers documented which children participated in school breakfast on 26 to 51 randomly selected days per school during 24 weeks in the 1999-2000 school year. Subjects: 357 children recruited from all 22 fourth-grade classes from 6 schools in 1 public school district. Variables Measured: Participation rate, participation rate grouping [usually participated ([greater than or equal to] 50% of days observed), did not usually participate (< 50% of days observed)]. Statistical Analyses Performed: Komolgorov-Smirnov tests, McNemar's test. Results: Median participation rate was 37.5% overall. Distribution of participation rates differed significantly by race (K-S test, P < .001) but not gender. There was a significant difference in the percentage of parents who said 'yes' or 'no' compared to children's usual participation grouping (McNemar test, P < .001). Of parents who said 'yes,' 66% of children usually participated; of parents who said 'no,' 92% of children did not usually participate. Implications: Children, not parents, must be the source for learning about what children eat at school. Key Words: children, parents, School Breakfast Program participation (J Nutr Educ Behav. 2002;34:159-165)

ABSTRACT Objective To determine the accuracy and consistency of fourth-graders' school breakfast and school lunch recalls obtained during 24-hour recalls and compared with observed intake. Design Children were interviewed using [...]

Objective To validate fourth-graders' self-reports of school lunch by comparing their reports to lunch observations, and to determine the impact on accuracy of gender, ethnicity, meal component, and time interval between eating and reporting. Design Students were randomly selected, observed eating lunch, and interviewed the same day, next day, or Monday regarding Friday's lunch. Accuracy of reporting items was determined by tallying matched foods (items reported and observed), phantom foods (items reported but not observed), and omitted foods (items not reported but observed). Accuracy of reporting amount eaten was determined by calculating absolute and arithmetic differences. Subjects Subjects were 260 students: 89 same-day, 148 next-day, and 23 Monday recalls; 59 whites (30 boys) and 201 blacks (103 boys) from four schools. Statistical analyses Rates for matched, phantom, and omitted foods; analysis of variance; Friedman's nonparametric analog of analysis of variance; Student-Newman-Keuls' post hoc comparisons. Results In regard to reporting items, the respective rates for matched, phantom, and omitted foods were 84%, 5%, and 16% for same-day recalls; 68%, 13%, and 32% for next-day recalls; and 38%, 48%, and 62% for Monday recalls. Rates for omitted and phantom foods were higher for Monday recalls than for next-day recalls, which were higher than for same-day recalls (P, Nutrition studies concerning children often require them to provide dietary self-reports; however, validated dietary assessment methods for children are needed (1-6). Validity is the degree to which a method measures [...]

Objective To develop and validate a consensus set of retrieval categories for how children remember what they have eaten, and to relate retrieval categories to accuracy of reporting items eaten during school lunch. Design A Delphi technique study was conducted using 10 psychologists. The subject matter consisted of responses transcribed from interviews conducted with 89 randomly selected fourth graders within 90 minutes of eating. Retrieval categories were evaluated for accuracy by comparing students' self-reported lunch intake with observation. Statistical analyses For round 1, a centroid hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify common sets of rating pairs to propose categories for reaching consensus. For rounds 2 and 3, percent of agreement was calculated. Accuracy was tabulated across meal items and student use by retrieval category. Results After round 3, we found that 23 'near-consensus' categories were used by at least eight raters. Six categories were used 60% of the time, 4 were used 20% of the time, and 5 were used 15% of the time. Less frequently used categories were combined with similar, more frequently used categories for a total of 16 categories. Students used a large variety of retrieval categories when accurately reporting consumption. Of the 16 categories, 12 were used similarly by both accurate and inaccurate students. Where there were differences in accuracy by retrieval category, the more accurate students used 'taste/smell/texture' and 'visual' in deference to 'order items consumed' and 'oral cue still present.' Applications These categories provide insight into the broad range of retrieval categories that children use and provide direction for researchers to design and study specific cues to enhance the accuracy of children's self-reports of diet., Survey researchers are aware that memory for autobiographical information is not dependable, and that inference, which helps to fill in the details that respondents cannot recall, is inexact and often [...]

ABSTRACT Objectives To evaluate the feasibility of implementing 3 specific prompting methods among students in the first and fourth grades (mean age=7.2 and 10.1 years, respectively), to validate recall accuracy [...]

In one approach to analyzing data from validation studies of dietary self-reports, observed food items and reported food items are converted to nutrients, and either means are compared or correlations over individuals are calculated. However, such arithmetic conversions typically do not distinguish between matched (ie, correctly reported) food items (items observed eaten and reported eaten) and intruded food items (items reported eaten but not observed eaten) and therefore potentially overestimate reporting accuracy. Additional analyses were completed on data from a study in which 69 fourth-grade children were observed eating school breakfast and school lunch and then interviewed that evening by telephone or in person about that day's intake. Following conversion of observed and reported items to nutrients, correlations between observed amounts eaten and reported amounts eaten were 0.57 for kilocalories, 0.63 for protein, 0.52 for carbohydrate, and 0.61 for fat (all P's < .001).These correlations would typically be interpreted as indicating high reporting accuracy. However, within participants, comparisons of report rates (reported/ observed x 100) and match rates (matched/observed x 100) for kilocalories, protein, carbohydrate, and fat indicated that match rates were significantly lower than report rates (all P's < .001).These results challenge customary analyses used in validation studies of dietary self-reports that rely on arithmetic conversions of foods to nutrients without distinguishing between matches and intrusions. Funded by the USDA (Economic Research Service) grant 43-3AEM-2-80101 and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health grant R01 HL063189.