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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.

Background: Data from a dietary-reporting validation study with fourth-grade children were analyzed to investigate a possible relationship of body mass index (BMI) with daily participation in school meals and observed energy intake at school meals, and whether the relationships differed by breakfast location (classroom; cafeteria). Methods: Data were collected in 17, 17, and 8 schools during three school years. For the three years, six, six, and seven of the schools had breakfast in the classroom; all other schools had breakfast in the cafeteria. Information about 180 days of school breakfast and school lunch participation during fourth grade for each of 1,571 children (90% Black; 53% girls) was available in electronic administrative records from the school district. Children were weighed and measured, and BMI was calculated. Each of a subset of 465 children (95% Black; 49% girls) was observed eating school breakfast and school lunch on the same day. Mixed-effects regression was conducted with BMI as the dependent variable and school as the random effect; independent variables were breakfast participation, lunch participation, combined participation (breakfast and lunch on the same day), average observed energy intake for breakfast, average observed energy intake for lunch, sex, age, breakfast location, and school year. Analyses were repeated for BMI category (underweight/healthy weight; overweight; obese; severely obese) using pooled ordered logistic regression models that excluded sex and age. Results: Breakfast participation, lunch participation, and combined participation were not significantly associated with BMI or BMI category irrespective of whether the model included observed energy intake at school meals. Observed energy intake at school meals was significantly and positively associated with BMI and BMI category. For the total sample and subset, breakfast location was significantly associated with BMI; average BMI was larger for children with breakfast in the classroom than in the cafeteria. Significantly more kilocalories were observed eaten at breakfast in the classroom than in the cafeteria. Conclusions: For fourth-grade children, results provide evidence of a positive relationship between BMI and observed energy intake at school meals, and between BMI and school breakfast in the classroom; however, BMI and participation in school meals were not significantly associated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using previously collected data of fourth-grade children observed eating school meals and then interviewed, we categorized intrusions (food items reported but not observed eaten) as stretches (on the child's tray) or confabulations (not on the child's tray). We investigated intrusions, confabulations, and stretches and the role of liking, at different retention intervals (morning interviews about the previous day's intake; evening interviews about that day's intake) and under different reporting- order prompts (forward; reverse). As retention interval between consumption and report increased, the likelihood (1) increased that reported items were intrusions, that reported items were confabulations and that intrusions were confabulations; and (2) was constant that reported items were stretches. Results concerning reporting-order prompts were inconclusive. Liking ratings were higher for matches (reports of items observed eaten) than stretches, for confabulations than stretches, and for matches than omissions (unreported items observed eaten), but did not vary by retention interval or reporting-order prompts. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluates a consensus set of retrieval categories for how children remember what they have eaten and its relationship to the self-reports of diet using the Delphi technique. Assessment of the accuracy of children's self-reports by observation; Positive relation of retrieval categories on the accuracy of self-reports; Influence of intrusions.

Objectives This article discusses differences in body mass index (BMI) for age percentiles by ethnicity, gender, and time, as well as the prevalence of overweight and at risk of overweight in Fourth Grade children across five studies conducted during four school years. These five studies concerned either the accuracy of children's dietary recalls or children's social desirability, so weight and height measurements were secondary rather than primary aims. Methods Across five studies, researchers measured 1,696 fourth-grade children (54% Black, 46% White; 51% female) from a total of 14 public elementary schools in one school district. Each child's BMI-for-age percentile was determined using the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's gender-specific BMI-for-age growth charts. Results Across all five studies, 20 children (1.2%) were underweight (<5th percentile), 989 children (58.3%) were at a healthy weight (>5th and <85th percentiles), 281 children (16.6%) were at risk of overweight (>85th and <95th percentiles), and 406 children (23.9%) were overweight (>95th percentile). The mean gender-specific BMI-for-age percentile across all children was high (70.1%) and greater for Black children (72.0%) than White children (67.8%) (p=0.02; analysis of covariance). A higher percentage of Black children (26.5%) compared to White children (21.0%) were overweight (p=0.01; chi-square). No differences were found by gender or time in the prevalence of children who were overweight; likewise, no differences were found by ethnicity, gender, or time in the prevalence of children who were at risk of overweight. Application to Child Nutrition Professionals Schools provide an excellent venue for measuring children's weight and height annually to determine BMI-for-age percentiles. This information can be used to track changes over time, and it can be linked to computerized administrative records of children's daily participation in school meals from one school year to the next to increase knowledge of a relationship between childhood obesity and daily participation in school meals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the impact of study, race, and gender on participation rates across four school-based nutrition studies that obtained dietary recall from fourth-grade children. It is opined that schools provide a natural environment for nutrition research because school foodservice programs feed millions of children one or two meals each school day. Observations of children eating school meals provide a convenient and relatively modest means of validating children's dietary recalls. For each study, children were observed eating school meals; interviewed regarding dietary intake; and weighed and measured. Logistic regression was used to determine whether study, race, or gender were significant predictors of participation. The results indicated that study , race, and gender were significant predictors, however, no two-factor interactions among these effects were significant. The results of this study also indicate that more black (69%) than white (63%) children agreed to participate across the four studies, with 2,291 eligible children. The results find that more females (69%) than males (64%) agreed to participate across the four studies.

Purpose/objectives: Analyses were conducted to examine variations in fourth-grade children's participation in school-breakfast and school-lunch programs by weekday, month, socioeconomic status, absenteeism, sex, and school-breakfast location., Methods: Fourth-grade children were participants in a dietary-reporting validation study during the 2005-2006 or 2006-2007 school years in 17 or 8 schools, respectively, in one South Carolina school district. For the two respective school years, school-breakfast location was the classroom for six and seven schools, and for the remaining schools, the cafeteria. District administrative records provided information about 180 possible days of participation in the school-breakfast and school-lunch programs for each of 1,060 children (91% Black, 52% girls). The state's Office of Research and Statistics linked data on school-meal participation with information about individual children's socioeconomic status (eligibility for free or reduced-price school meals) and annual absenteeism from school., Results: For school-provided breakfast, logistic regression showed participation rate differences by weekday (smallest for Monday [56.1%], largest for Wednesday [57.8%], p<0.0001), month (smallest for April [53.5%], largest for September [60.8%], p<0.0001), socioeconomic status (smallest for full-price status [27.5%], largest for free-meal status [63.4%], p<0.0001), school-breakfast location (smaller for breakfast located in the cafeteria [38%] than classroom [71%], p<0.0001), and absenteeism (p<0.0001). For school-provided lunch, logistic regression showed participation rate differences by weekday (smallest for Friday [81.9%], largest for Thursday [83.3%], p<0.0001), month (smallest for May [78.7%], largest for August [86.0%], p<0.0001), socioeconomic status (smallest for full-price status [72.1%], largest for free-meal status [84.9%], p<0.0001), and absenteeism (p<0.0001). There were no differences in participation rate by sex., Applications for Child Nutrition Professionals: Administrative participation records are used for forecasting purchasing and production. Using such records in research studies may provide insight into aspects of children's participation in school-provided meals. Districts and managers are encouraged to share administrative records of children's participation in school-provided meals with researchers.

Background: This article investigated (1) parental response accuracy of fourth-grade children's school-meal participation and whether accuracy differed by children's body mass index (BMI), sex, and race, and (2) the relationship between BMI and school-meal participation (based on parental responses)., Methods: Data were from four cross-sectional studies conducted from fall 1999 to spring 2003 with fourth-grade children from 13 schools total. Consent forms asked parents to report children's usual school-meal participation. As two studies' consent forms did not ask about lunch participation, complete data were available for breakfast on 1,496 children (51% Black; 49% boys) and for lunch on 785 children (46% Black; 48% boys). Researchers compiled nametag records (during meal observations) of meal participation on randomly selected days during children's fourth-grade school year for breakfast (average nametag days across studies: 7-35) and for lunch (average nametag days across studies: 4-10) and categorized participation as "usually" (≥ 50% of days) or "not usually" (< 50% of days). Weight and height were measured. Concerning parental response accuracy, marginal regression was used with agreement between parental responses and nametag records as the dependent variable; independent variables were BMI, age, sex, race, and study. Concerning a relationship between BMI and school-meal participation, marginal regression was used with BMI as the dependent variable; independent variables were breakfast participation, lunch participation, age, sex, race, and study., Results: Concerning breakfast participation and lunch participation, 74% and 92% of parents provided accurate responses, respectively. Parental response accuracy was better for older children for breakfast and lunch participation, and for Black than White children for lunch participation. Usual school-meal participation was significantly related to children's BMI but in opposite directions -- positively for breakfast and inversely for lunch., Conclusions: Parental response accuracy of children's school-meal participation was moderately high; however, disparate effects for children's age and race warrant caution when relying on parental responses. The BMI results, which showed a relationship between school-meal participation (based on parental responses) and childhood obesity, conflict with results from a recent article that used data from the same four studies and found no significant relationship when participation was based on nametag records compiled for meal observations.